Two weeks since J Jayalalithaa’s death, uncertainty is the only constant in Tamil Nadu. A new Chief Minister may have taken oath, but Amma’s absence is palpable. The ambitious woman, who ruled the state with an iron fist, ensured that no one came close to replacing her.
O Paneerselvam may be currently sitting in her chair at Fort St George by default, but can he and will he be the one to take Amma’s legacy forward?
Enter Chinnamma. Jayalalithaa’s shadow, her constant companion and only friend, Sasikala Natrajan has suddenly found herself – mostly by design – at the center of a political maelstrom.
We may never know if Jayalalithaa intended for Sasikala to take her place, but even before her death, it was fait accompli. The wheels had been set in motion.
First, the post of General Secretary of the AIADMK and then (perhaps) the Chief Minister’s post. From being a backroom negotiator, Sasikala now holds the reigns to the party’s future.
Sasikala’s elevation is reminiscent of MGR’s wife – ironically, the person from whom Jaya wrested control of the AIADMK. After MGR’s death, Janaki stepped in to take over the party – a move that made her Tamil Nadu’s first woman Chief Minister.
In that sense, Sasikala is following in Janaki’s footsteps – using her proximity to the former CM as her entitlement to lead the party. However, unlike Janaki – who had a formidable opponent in a fierce, young Jayalalithaa – Sasikala’s path appears to be relatively smoother.
Sasikala's first challenge is to consolidate her position within the party and shrug off the 'outsider' tag. Chinamma, though, has already hit the ground running. At Jayalalithaa's funeral, we saw the first glimpse of her ambition. She positioned herself at the head of Amma's hearse – a symbolic move. The last time Tamil Nadu saw such an assertion of power was when Jayalalithaa played the same role at MGR's funeral.
One of the first pictures that the AIADMK released to the media after Amma’s death also speaks volumes of Sasikala's plans. We saw her at the home she shared with the former CM for many years - naming the newborn daughter of a party cadre, Jayalalithaa. With this picture, she eased into the void of the benevolent mother figure that Amma’s death has created, while simultaneously consolidating her position as Jayalithaa's heir.
Ever since, we've seen numerous press releases from the AIADMK, showing an aloof, stoic Sasikala – channelling her inner Amma.
For Sasikala, entering politics will not be the gender battle it had been for Amma.
Jayalalithaa was a trailblazer – always a woman in a man’s world; first, as a successful actor in an industry that treated her as arm candy for her larger-than-life co-stars and then as a reluctant albeit a natural politician, where her past as a starlet was ruthlessly used by detractors to demean, vilify and “put her in her place”.
What did a Brahmin woman with no political experience know about Dravidian politics? Plenty, as she would go on to prove with her successful stints as Chief Minister. Her opponents never let Jaya forget she was a woman first and a politician second.
She once admitted that the mammoth task of consolidating MGR’s political legacy was made more precarious because her gender felt like a noose around her neck, a constant reminder that a woman would always be judged more harshly.
“If I had failed, they would’ve said it was because I was a woman,” she had famously said.
When Hillary Clinton failed to secure the Democratic nomination in 2008, Jayalalithaa spoke of it as a personal slight. She said it was because people didn’t like to see an educated, qualified woman succeed. She could have been speaking of her own battle against misogyny.
Never one for moderation, Jayalalithaa responded to the opposition's constant brickbats by donning the matronly saree. The starlet Ammu made way for the sexless Amma – removing all possibilities of gender-based censure in a single sweep.
The astute politician in Jaya understood that in Indian culture, mothers are above reproach. She made herself inaccessible yet relatable, untouchable but selfless – a path Sasikala has been quick to follow.
Almost overnight, Sasikala became Chinamma. An image makeover for Sasikala also comes with the gargantuan task of taking Jaya's numerous welfare schemes forward.
The politician Amma reached out to the one section of society that, like her, had often felt marginalised, ignored and belittled. It was vote bank politics with a humane touch. Jaya replaced the money and alcohol sops with mixers, grinders, laptops, and free medical check-ups – facilities that these women wouldn’t have expected from a male politician.
Amma didn’t just speak of empowerment; she showed them she could do it and they rewarded her, repeatedly. Sasikala's challenge will be to endear herself to this group of voters.
What was it that drew these women – many of them poor, destitute, with no political capital or agency – to a privileged Iyengar woman?
Jayalalithaa was someone who represented their struggle in a patriarchal world, whose success fuelled hopes of a society where they too, like Amma, could hold sway. But did this altruism come easy to Jayalalithaa?
While she claimed to believe in equality for women, she seldom encouraged other women MPs, MLAs or party leaders. The only other woman in her party who enjoyed any modicum of importance was Sasikala and that too because of their personal association. Even with Sasikala, Jaya ensured that her role was limited to that of an advisor and companion – always behind the scene.
Sasikala's elevation is simply a result of a sudden vacuum in the party, a space she was quick to appropriate. Would Jayalalithaa have picked Sasikala as her successor? If not, then is Amma as guilty of enforcing patriarchy just like the men she so loathed?
Jaya’s brand of feminism – like most things in her life – revolved around herself. She was brave and inventive. She was as brazen as her male counterparts and as combative and lethal; but all of this was self-serving.
She didn't believe in equality for men and women. The image of male party workers paying obeisance to her was the hallmark of her might – an act she revelled in and encouraged.
Sasikala, in all likelihood, will tread a path of moderation and won't enjoy such lustful displays of loyalty. For one, she doesn't enjoy Jaya's popularity, nor does she have Amma's political experience or charisma. She will however appropriate Jaya's legacy.
She has the one thing that no one else in the state can stake claim to – years of unfettered access to Jaya. And with that comes expertise that one can only learn from the master of the game.
(Neha Poonia is a feminist and an anchor/editor with CNN-News18. This is a blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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