Well, the promised photo finish did happen albeit a day late. Though it was the electoral results that were predicted to be a close affair, Jayalalithaa ‘ s assumption of office as CM turned out to be more climactic in a day of fast-paced developments. In the event, the much talked of gubernatorial dilemma remained an academic debate with the Raj Bhavan resident wasting no time in inviting the AIADMK chief to form the government.
Indeed, in hindsight, it is obvious that the Governor had no option once the legislators of the majority party unanimously elected Jayalalithaa as the Chief Minister besides making it clear that no one else would be acceptable. Any other course of action would have brought the Governor ‘ s office into the midst of an unnecessary constitutional controversy that its ornamental status does not warrant.
Whatever Fathima Beevi ‘ s views and prevarications on the issue are, she appears to have decided and acted on the realisation that a Governor ‘ s office can only be a constitutional transit point, particularly during times of transfer of power, and it is not upto her to sit on judgement over questions of alleged moral improprieties. What mattered to her was the MLAs ‘ recommendation and it was there in black and white and quite explicitly at that. Period.
While the Karunanidhis and Chid-ambarams are understandably aghast, the allies of Jayalalithaa, for their part, feel truly vindicated. In a sharply divided polity as the one that prevails in TN with its brand of personalised politics, such Pavlovian responses are clearly on expected lines. In fact the debate has little steam now as it was the primary electoral issue placed before the people, not only by Jayalalithaa but also by her opponents.
Right from the run up to the filing of nominations and the subsequent rejection of her papers to the battle of the ballot and the eventual outcome, the only point that was repeatedly stressed by both the warring fronts was her eligibility to become the CM of the State. And it is on this single point referundum that the people have expressed their emphatic opinion.
The fact that the AIADMK has swept the polls by projecting an electorally disqualified Jayalalithaa as the CM is a clear pointer to where the basic sympathies of the people lay. To ignore this and then trying to raise moral hackles is like losing a battle and then asking the winner to surrender.
But does that mean morals and constitutional proprieties do not exist? Well, in the current political milieu where only electoral victory counts, these things have become, first irrelevent, and second, a matter of subjectivity. And to be sure, morals change with time and political affiliations.
It is indeed funny to see the likes of Karunanidhi raising moral issues and one is inclined to think that it is just a holy camouflage to cover a stinging defeat. Would Karunanidhi, or for that matter any politician, resist taking up an office if it is offered on a platter as has happened now?
There could be a thousand opinions but only one course of action and those who are vested with the duty of decision making will have to ever suffer the wrath of opposing views. If in Jayalalithaa’s disqualification, the DMK chief and his co-borns found a vindication of their stand, then it automatically follows that Jayalalithaa too stands vindicated for taking the issue to the public and then getting their approval.
If the law has taken its own course in rejecting her papers, then is it not true that the same law has also found her fit to become CM despite her electoral disqualification, first through an electoral victory and then owing to the Governor ‘ s assent to her candidature? If the Returning Officers were right, then so is the Governor, who technically speaking is a better endowed representative of the State.
Again, if the apprehension is that Jayalalithaa as CM might influence the course of cases, then was it not also possible that Karunanidhi as CM could have prevailed over the Returning Officers, who are much lesser mortals than the learned Judges who run courts? Why should the pundits crib about morals, that in any case does not figure in any politician ‘ s scheme of things?
In an electoral outcome as decisive as the current one, it is quite apparent that the people have prevailed over the pundits. And while the pundits are divided down the middle in line with political polarisations, the people ‘ s verdict has been clear and categorical with an overwhelming majority finding common cause with Jayalalithaa.
As far as she is concerned it is a question of weighing her personal conviction about her innocence against the conviction by a court of her guilt. She appears totally convinced about the former and has also succeeded in convincing the pepople at the forum in which the issue came up. The cases are still in court and it is a matter of time before those fora too pronounce their verdict.
Till then it is the present that relevant, and so the pundits are well advised to clear off and make their presentations six months hence when the question of her election to the Assembly comes up.