Deconstructing Jaya

Transforming a tantrum into a political earthquake
Spare a thought for the people of Delhi. The city is already reeling from the powerlessness that has accompanied the hottest April of this century; but strangely enough it is the realignment in the corridors of power that AIADMK chief Jayalalitha is attempting to effect that has given the city8217;s denizens deep frown lines and sweaty foreheads. When Amma landed in the capital with guarded plans and 48 suitcases in tow, not to mention her treasuretrove of 18 Lok Sabha MPs 8212; she may not have been welcomed on the tarmac by the who8217;s who of Lutyen8217;s Delhi, but make no mistake, they are all aflutter about what surprises she will spring on whom. Congress and Third Front powerbrokers may be flitting between political parleys and Press conferences, detailing their visions for the days to come, but they fool nobody. For, it is Puratchi Thalaivi who will shape the contours of any post-Vajpayee dispensation. And politicians are not the only ones ontenterhooks: her hotel staff will no doubt be on full alert to make sure that the elevator promptly delivers her to her suite and that the sunrays do not refract on to the breakfast table and give the lady from Poes Gardens a migraine.

What accounts for this mystifying clout, this ability to throw her weight around and extract her pound of flesh? Eighteen MPs in an era of single-digit parliamentary majorities is an enticingly easy answer, but clearly not an entirely adequate one. Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that she plays by her own rules and refuses to lose sight of her own importance. And so, on her last trip north of the Vindhyas, it was Sonia Gandhi who stepped down from her pedestal, changed her itinerary and trooped down to have tea with Jayalalitha. The interests of Tamil Nadu and the strategic imperative to testfire the Agni may dominate her missives to the Press, but as she zooms around in her custom-made Tata Sierra, with the strategically placed bulbs, it is a shadow wish list thatdominates negotiations. But since Jayalalitha so adroitly sets the agenda, all concerned have no option but to go along with her heartwrenching worries about the national interest.

However, the AIADMK leader8217;s most effective weapon is the good old tantrum, which she has cultivated into a fine art by coupling it with an uncanny skill of casting herself as a victim. Are the stockmarket and the seminar circuit abuzz with worries about the economic and political turbulence she is unleashing on a weary nation? But then, she will beatifically tell you in a television interview, she never wanted to be where she is in the first place. A promising career in law cut short by dipping family fortunes, the steely lessons learnt in a dog-eat-dog world, the elusiveness of unconditional love8230; only the stonehearted will not be moved. As for coming days, the nation would clearly do well to brace itself for the unexpected, for a visibly more confident Jayalalitha, with 800 kg in excess baggage, intends to stick around inDelhi for a while. And seismologists better be on standby to measure the political earthquakes that are bound to shake the capital.