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Jaya blinks first

George Iype in Madras

After four days of political commotion and opinionated television drama, peace and normal life have been restored in Tamil Nadu as Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa climbed down and agreed to a truce with the Centre on Tuesday.

The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, which has been 'pondering over' and 'debating' the turmoil in Tamil Nadu, vacillated for four full days. It then embarked on a slow-motion action and finally gave in by dropping its belligerent stand after Jayalalithaa dropped the charges against the two Union ministers.

Jayalalithaa blinked under pressure from the Centre. Vajpayee in turn softened his hard-talk and gave her government 'a stern warning', which many believe the Prime Minister should have issued on day one.

So at the end of days of political unrest, what is left behind in Tamil Nadu? A sacked governor, the DMK top brass in prison, a day of bandh, lots of disturbances to civil life and common people, highly exaggerated television telecasts by rival political parties, nearly 2,5000 DMK men in prisons for three full days and two Central ministers in custody.

At the end, Union Minister T R Baalu walked out of the Vellore prison. The other Union Minister Murasoli Maran continued to stay in the Apollo Hospital as his pacemaker in the heart shifted after a scuffle with the police. But former chief minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi languishes in the prison. So does his son and Madras Mayor M K Stalin.

But how did the truce between the Jayalalithaa government and the Centre come about so quickly?

AIADMK leaders offer many reasons why Jayalalithaa showed restraint and climbed down on her audacious act of arresting and jailing the DMK top brass in a pre-dawn swoop down on last Saturday.

"Amma just wanted to teach a lesson to Karunanidhi and his men. Just as Amma underwent the suffering when she was arrested in 1996, it was her life-time desire to ensure that Karunanidhi too undergoes similar trails," says an AIADMK MP close to Jayalalithaa.

That Jayalalithaa did not mean to precipitate a severe crisis and take on the Central government was palpable on Monday as she quietly left the state to visit a number of temples in Kerala.

Soon after she came back from her divine visits on Tuesday morning, the Chief Minister ensured that she attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new acting governor Dr C Rangarajan, who was appointed in place of the sacked governor M Fathima Beevi.

But AIADMK sources said that the truce with Centre was struck by a team of party leaders who were in New Delhi on Monday and Tuesday meeting various political leaders.

The AIADMK leaders led by State Education Minister Thambi Durai met with the Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday night. Sources said during the meeting with Jaitley, it was decided that the Jayalalithaa government would drop charges against Maran and Baalu and in turn the Centre would not take any strict action on the state regime.

Durai told rediff.com over telephone that "the state government's action in arresting Karunanidhi and others were not meant to take on the Central government."

"Like every state government, we also would like to have a very cordial relationship with the Centre. Therefore, the arrests of Karunanidhi and other DMK leaders were not meant to upset the Vajpayee government. Why should we strain our relations with the Vajpayee government," he asked.

However, he said the state government believes that the Jayalalithaa administration acted within the strict limits of law and order. "The Union ministers were taken into custody when they obstructed and abused the police when they were doing their duty," Durai said.

So the heightened political drama in Tamil Nadu seems to have subsided, at least for the time being.

But Jayalalithaa has no reasons to be happy over the turn of events for many reasons. First, the Vajpayee government may soon appoint a pro-BJP governor in Tamil Nadu who could make Jayalalithaa's life miserable as she is fighting a series of corruption charges.

Second, in less than five months from now, Jayalalithaa has to contest in an assembly election and win if she wants to continue as the Chief Minister. It is certain that her provocative action of arresting the DMK leaders has left her in poor image that could make her perhaps struggle in the poll.

Karunanidhi's Arrest: The Complete Coverage

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