Opinion No more tears

Tamil Nadu deserves better than a government in mourning. New CM must step up to the plate.

October 1, 2014 12:00 AM IST First published on: Oct 1, 2014 at 12:00 AM IST

The Tamil Nadu government took oath on Monday in a flood of tears. Newly appointed Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam kept a picture of convicted AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa in his pocket as he took oath and afterwards, reportedly refused to enter the chief minister’s office at the secretariat.

The message was unambiguous: this is a government in mourning for its supreme leader. Panneerselvam had also filled in as CM for six months after Jayalalithaa had been forced to step down in 2001. He is signalling that this time, too, he would merely be standing in, and the real centre of gravity is still Jayalalithaa.

In a party organised as the fief of its top leader, egregious gestures of loyalty are routine. But the fact that a state government turned a swearing-in ceremony into a display of fealty bodes ill for Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK appears to be a party rapt in itself, more anxious to preserve the power structures that have sustained it for so long than to be a party of government.

But whatever the terms of the arrangement between Jayalalithaa and Panneerselvam, governing cannot be just about maintaining the party ecology. In his previous tenure, Panneerselvam had acquired a name for being a “rubber stamp CM”. This time, given the probability that his tenure as CM may last till the next election two years from now, the people will rightfully expect a government that is present and functioning, not one that operates in ad hoc ways, or in which the lines of accountability disappear behind the bars of a prison cell. Panneerselvam must recognise the responsibility this political moment bestows on him — and live up to it.

Governance under the AIADMK has been synonymous with Brand Jayalalithaa. With her political career now in limbo, the party will need to regroup, find ways to tackle the substantial challenges of governance. Tamil Nadu has attracted a steady flow of investments over the years and been a hub of industry, but this growth story is threatened by acute power and water shortages, and by an infrastructural deficit.

If the AIADMK wishes to come back to power in the 2016 polls, and for the sake of the people of Tamil Nadu, the Panneerselvam government needs to address and deliver on these challenges.