In an unexpected turn of events on Thursday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced that a judicial commission would be set up under a retired judge to probe into the death of late former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa and that her Poes Garden residence would be converted into a memorial.
The announcement gains importance as it is seen as a major step towards the merger of the fighting AIADMK factions, but it also has put Jayalalithaa’s image at stake. The conversion of her house into a memorial will also invite legal trouble for the government as her niece Deepa Jayakumar and nephew Deepak Jayaraman have already made it open about their willingness to claim her properties as her legal heirs.
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The ruling party suffered a vertical split after former chief minister O.Panneerselvam staged an open revolt against party president V.K.Sasikala, days after he was allegedly forced to resign fro the CM post.
“This is a step towards our merger. OPS has still not reacted to this. But, I welcome this. We will have to discuss further on this,” said Mafoi K. Pandiarajan, senior leader from the Panneerselvam camp. On the other hand, K.P. Munusamy, another leader in the OPS camp, who has been fierce on the two demands of his group for a merger, said nothing short of a CBI probe into Jayalalithaa’s death cannot lead to merger. “Our demand is CBI probe,” he said. The other major demand was the ouster of entire family of Sasikala from the party.
AADMK insiders, close to Palaniswami, said that the announcement comes as a step towards merger. With more than four meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi and with BJP president Amit Shah’s scheduled visit to Tamil Nadu on August 22, the pressure for a merger and to form a united AIADMK minus the Sasikala family has been increasing day by day.
Though Thursday's developments make it apparent about a merger in the cards, sources say that the negotiations will continue as both the factions still have several secret agendas. While Panneerselvam cannot accept anything less than a chief minister or party general secretary post, the incumbent EPS cannot give up easily.
Ousting Sasikala's family from the party will not be easy for Palaniswami. While the party chief is still in Bengaluru prison, her nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran, who enjoys the support of several MLAs, has proved his strength within the party through his public meeting on August 14 at Melur near Madurai where more than 22,000 people gathered to hear him speak.
Also the million dollar question is why a probe now. “It has been nine months since her death. Why a probe now? When the people of Tamil Nadu demanded a probe, both OPS and EPS were in a denial mode. OPS spoke about mystery in her death only after his revolt. And EPS never spoke about it until today. This is not going to lead to merger. They will continue to negotiate and talk about it further,” said Thanga Tamizhselvan, an MLA from the T.T.V. Dhinakaran camp.
Though merger is the most talked about topic now, the announcements have to be looked at with more depth. Dhinakaran had already left for Bengaluru to call on Sasikala at the Prapana Agrahara Prison on her birthday on Friday.
Sasikala's family, including Dhinakaran and her another nephew Jeyanandh Dhivakaran, has challenged the release of photos and videos of the medical treatment administered to Jayalalaithaa. The decision for a judicial probe will certainly rub them on their wrong side. “It is only to anger them and make them revolt,” says a party insider. Sources close to Sasikala family say that this announcement will lead Sasikala to take tough decisions which can even topple the government. With the six months period after the vote of confidence of EPS government getting over on Friday, there are chances of another confidence motion against the government. Such a scenario might lead to another political instability in the state as more than 22 MLAs support Dhinakaran.
Political observers feel that Thursday's announcement was politically motivated. Though a probe into Jayalalithaa's death was a major demand from the AIADMK cadres, the question is why the government had been reluctant over this for last seven months. In fact, the same government led by Palaniswami had earlier refuted all allegations over Jayalalithaa’s death. It was in February this year when the government made the Apollo hospital’s discharge summary public and also released the report shared by the team of AIIMS doctors. Dr Richard Beale, who had treated her, also flew down to Chennai to explain the treatment administered for Jayalalithaa. Apollo’s chairman Prathap Reddy, too, said that he was ready to disclose the treatment given to Jayalalithaa.
The decision on converting Jayalalithaa’s residence into a memorial will invite more legal trouble. Experts feel that the government should have taken the family consent before making such announcements. “There are many legal challenges here. A portion of the property was inherited by Jayalalithaa from her mother. The remaining was purchased by her individually. In such a case the legal heirs have all the rights to go to the court,” said Tamil Nadu Congress Committee leader S. Thirunvukkarasar.