Deadlock ends in TN, but future uncertain

The political deadlock in Tamil Nadu is over for now. The Gordian knot was cut by governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who thought outside the box and didn't let V.K. Sasikala become chief minister immediately on the strength of the number of MLAs supporting her, but later went by the rulebook in going by numbers and invited Edapaddi Palanisami, an AIADMK leader from Salem, to form the next government. This switch, of going more by the spirit of the Constitution than the letter, was the governor's masterstroke.

The governor refused to accept the doubtful claims of a person facing disqualification in the 21-year-old DA case involving former CM J. Jayalalithaa. Disaster would have struck had he bowed to pressure and invited Jaya's confidante, who enjoyed majority support among ruling party MLAs though not a member of the House. The governor was much maligned by those as impatient as Sasikala to grab the throne, but his wisdom and instincts prevailed, as the Supreme Court ruling knocked Sasikala out of electoral politics for 10 years.

The governor stayed bravely mum amid the shindig that was created by the power-mongering ruling party group and their supporters amid the crass drama - perfected over the years by those facing rival claims to the throne in the face of inner-party as well as external intrigues - of sequestering supporting legislators in a hotel that was played out in an extreme form, with over 100 MLAs staying put at a resort near Chennai for nine days. The situation regarding a legitimate claim to the chief ministership changed, of course, after Sasikala and her relatives were convicted while the charges against Jayalalithaa abated only due to her death. The new claimant, Edapaddi Palanisami, who was elected leader of the AIADMK legislative party by MLAs, was a member of the House and was not in any way disqualified or likely to be ineligible. He had to be invited rather than his rival O. Panneerselvam, the caretaker CM, who didn't have the numbers on his side.

Tamil Nadu's future is, however, by no means secure. As a proxy of the Poes Garden ruling family presides over a major state with a wafer-thin majority, the likelihood of his being brought down legitimately on the Assembly floor by the Opposition DMK and Congress cannot be discounted, even if he is able to win the floor test to be held soon. What the state needs most is a clean administration with the people's aspirations and their needs in the forefront rather than legislators on an established path of aggrandising fortunes. The temporary phenomenon of the riveting succession battle for "Amma's throne" shouldn't hide the brazen political act of the whole system being hijacked only to benefit ruling party legislators.