As DMK, facing alleged corruption scandals, tries to reconcile itself to the loss of power and a diminished status with a mere 23 members in the TN Assembly, which it has so far effectively boycotted, the Jayalalithaa Government celebrated its first 100-day accomplishments – major welfare schemes launched and freebies distribution on – and seems to roll out more, eyeing local elections. Maintenance of law and order with reorganized police set-up is also its claim.

To the long list of welfare schemes, the Chief Minister announced on September 10, the addition of an all-embracing farmer protection scheme with financial assistance to cover education, marriage, maternity, as well as a range of stipends for students doing higher professional courses . All eligible farmers in the age group 18 to 65 and family members would be given identity cards to avail of the welfare benefits.

The AIADMK leader has also outlined her vision of strategy to develop Tamil Nadu as the leading state, and would aim at double-digit growth over the next five years. Industry-friendly policies would be unveiled to promote infrastructure building – roads and power – and services based on IT. Ms. Jayalalithaa has promised end to power shutdowns by August 2012 as substantial addition to generating capacity got under way. She has also revived a 400-km Monorail project for Chennai, for which global bidding process has been initiated.

But in her free-wheeling reversal of DMK Government’s schemes and plans, she suffered a setback in her “pre-determined” move to defer DMK’s uniform system of school education (“Samacheer Kalvi”) and propose a better syllabus, even as reopened schools and lakhs of children awaited the distribution of textbooks of “Samacheer Kalvi”. The Madras High Court ruled her government’s amendment to the 2010 legislation on the subject as unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court order and directed the Jayalalithaa government to implement 'Samacheer Kalvi' and distribute the printed textbooks with whatever corrections it wanted to make. The Court had, however, noted in the syllabus instances of portrayal of the personality of the leader of the party (Mr Karunanidhi) and “personal glorification” and promotion of his own cult and philosophy, which could influence the minds of young children.

On freebies (such as laptops, mixies, grinders etc), questioned in a PIL, the Court refused stay but said it would later go into the larger issue of propriety in making such pre-poll promises. But for Ms. Jayalalithaa, another unwelcome direction from the apex court was to make personal appearance on summons from the special court in Bangalore, which has been hearing a dis-proportionate assets case filed against her in mid-1990s. The Chief Minister had sought exemption from such appearance for recording her statement on grounds of security and her official preoccupations in Chennai. (Ms. Jayalalithaa said she had nothing to hide and had declared her movable and immovable assets worth Rs 51.40 crores while filing nomination papers for the Assembly elections

Most unnerving for the DMK patriarch is the state-wide crackdown on party workers and leaders including at least four former ministers involved in cases of land grabbing. Ms Jayalalithaa had given blanket orders to the police after assuming office to enforce law and order and also set up special cells to take prompt action on complaints of land grabbing from aggrieved persons and proceed against the alleged offenders, irrespective of their position. Many of them were sent to prison pending trials. Mr Karunanidhi attacked Ms. Jayalalithaa’s “autocracy” and “repressive measures”, especially the use of Goondas Act against a number of DMK workers, who languished in jail without any legal remedy for trial.

He warned that DMK could not be “cowed down” by tactics of intimidation. The erstwhile deputy Chief Minister Mr M K Stalin, who has been visiting jails to meet former colleagues, condemned the “vendetta politics” of AIADMK Government which, he claimed, would work to the advantage of DMK in the forthcoming civic elections. DMK MPs had presented a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil recently against the “flouting of fundamental and human rights” by the AIADMK Government. Mr Karunanidhi said Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had brought a situation akin to an emergency while the freehand given to the police made it look like a “police raj”. Ms. Jayalalithaa’s retort is that police is now “answerable to law and justice, not to those in power” as was the case before.

Mr Karunanidhi has urged all advocates owing allegiance to his party to rise to protect the partymen by using RTI Act effectively and “grill and instill fear among police officers” against any misuse of powers and 'protect' the party. He hopes to find solace if DMK retained its dominance, as in 2006, when elections to 10 corporations, and 148 municipalities among over 13,000 local bodies are completed. Poll dates are yet to be announced but all parties within the two alliances led by AIADMK and DMK are gearing up for the elections. DMK has demanded overseeing of civic elections by district-level monitoring committees under a retired high court judge to redress complaints as well as posting of paramilitary forces to ensure free and fair polls.

A sensitive political issue lately has been the strident calls by pro-LTTE outfits including Mr Vaiko’s MDMK to save from execution the three condemned prisoners involved in Rajiv Gandhi assassination. They all demand state government commute the death penalty to life imprisonment. Ms. Jayalalithaa’s stand was after rejection of their mercy petitions by the President, neither the courts nor the state government could exercise such power, which was exclusively with the President of India. The Madras High Court, with some noisy scenes outside on August 30, stayed the execution set for September 9 for eight weeks, on a petition from prisoners who cited the delay of 11 years in the President’s disposal of the matter, anticipating a build-up of more pressures, skillfully the Chief Minister had a a resolution through the Assembly appealing to the President for reconsideration.

Ahead of the first budget presentation in early August, the AIADMK Government had raised over Rs.4000 crores to help finance welfare schemes and freebies ( like laptops, grinders and fans), distribution of which was to begin on September 15. The tax-free budget for 2011/12 provides for Rs.8900 crores for all the welfare schemes and freebies. With revenue buoyancy, Government expects to contain the revenue and fiscal deficits and debt ratio to state GDP “well within the norms” prescribed by the 13th Finance Commission. The state will have to borrow more in the current year.

The bonhomie Ms. Jayalalithaa had sought to establish with the Centre with a call on the Prime Minister in mid-June has apparently not survived. She has been lately highly critical of Centre’s “unhelpful” attitude on her requests for substantial financial assistance to finance select welfare programmes and meet electricity board liabilities. Charging the Centre with choking assistance flows to non-UPA states, she has also raised the banner of revolt against GST which she termed a “sinister move” detrimental to the states’ interests. (IPA Service)