One of the recent entries in the Madras University’s library is a thesis on state Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s government between 1991 and 1996. The thesis titled ‘Contemporary Political History of Tamil Nadu 1991-1996,’ completed in May this year, is significant as it helped its author, S.P. Amrithalingam, become the only Inspector in the state to earn a PhD.Distinctly different from the innumerable political theses submitted by researchers, Amrithalingam packed his research with certain interesting studies about the emergence of J. Jayalalithaa as a Chief Minister from her post as a propaganda secretary in the AIADMK during 1984, when former chief minister M.G. Ramachandran headed the party.Amrithalingam is now an Inspector of Police with the Special Branch CID and his colleagues say his interest in the state politics dates back to his college days. The inspector had interviewed Jayalalithaa in 1984 and published the excerpts of the interview in his thesis.Amrithalingam questioned Jaya on her oratorical skills. To a question about ‘‘‘the methodology of her oration as the propaganda secretary’’ Jayalalithaa’s reply was: ‘‘You probably feel that my style of oration is similar to that of my leader Dr M.G. Ramachandran because both he and I have firmly believed that audience participation is an essential and integral part of political oratory in order to ensure that a point is indelibly imprinted upon the consciousness of the public.”
