When Ms. Jayalalitha won a
massive majority, but…
This day, 24 years ago, in Tamil Nadu’s Electoral Battle
#memoriesfromdiaries #danceofdemocracy
14 May 2001
This particular day in history, (almost a quarter century ago!) saw a massive win for the AIADMK front in the Assembly Elections in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK had fought the elections in alliance with the MDMK, PMK, Congress, etc.
Quite interestingly, many opinion polls had predicted a landslide win for Mr. Karunanidhi’s DMK, (which had fought the elections in an alliance with the BJP), because of the many people-welfare measures that the DMK patriarch had implemented during his tenure as Chief Minister.
Poll pundits attributed this surprising loss for the DMK to their impulsive move in forcing out Vaiko’s MDMK from their alliance - which had severely impacted their political fortunes, resulting in their colossal defeat at the hustings.
Although the MDMK under VaiKo did not win even one seat, they proved instrumental in the colossal loss of the DMK.
Let’s look at the vote share of the major parties to see how this move proved disastrous for the DMK’s sweeping win!
Parties and their Vote Share (%)
AIADMK - 31.4%
TMC(M) - 6.7%
PMK - 5.6%
INC - 2.5%
CPI(M) - 1.7%
CPI - 1.6%
DMK - 30.9%
BJP - 3.2%
PT - 1.3%
MDMK - 4.7%
IND - 6.2%
A massive win that was waiting to happen, but couldn’t materialise though!
From then on, till date, the DMK has carefully ensured that, the MDMK remained with them for ever! 😊 Even in the recently concluded general elections, VaiKo’s son Durai VaiKo was elected as an MP in alliance with the DMK.
Coming back -
Quite ironically, although Dr Jayalalithaa’s party had swept the elections, and she was waiting to don the mantle as Chief Minister, there were legal issues staring at her.
She had been convicted by the Court and sentenced to two years of imprisonment, in the infamous TANSI case.
[Well, the TANSI case pertains to purchases that were done from the lands and buildings of Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation at prices that were far below the existing market rates, in the names of Jaya Publications and Sasi Enterprises. Jayalalitha and her friend Sasikala were also partners in these firms, and the loss to the state was pegged at Rs 40 million]
Adding to her woes, the DMK had threatened that it would go to Court if a convicted person was sworn is as Chief Minister.
Now, Jayalalithaa and her AIADMK went into a huddle. They consulted all the eminent legal experts on the constitutional validity arising out of such a situation.
To add to the AIADMK’s pleasant surprise, the (then) Governor of Tamil Nadu, a former Supreme Court Judge herself, Justice Fathima Beevi, taking advantage of the ‘ambiguous wording of the relevant articles, Articles 164(4) and 75(B), of the Constitution’, did a very quick swearing-in of Dr. Jayalalitha for a second time as Chief Minister, along with her five-member cabinet.
Former Union minister M Thambidurai, and former state ministers C Ponnaiyan, D Jayakumar, Aiyavu Vandaiyar and R Saroja took oath of office along with Jayalalitha.
Now the onus was clearly on Ms. Jayalalitha to get herself cleared in the TANSI case and then contest a by-election within the six-month deadline from her date of assuming office as chief minister.
However, as expected, very soon, the law caught up with her, and a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, on 21 September 2001 unanimously ruled that –
“a person who is convicted for a criminal offense and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years cannot be appointed the Chief Minister of a State under Article 164 (1) read with (4) and cannot continue to function as such”,
and reprimanded the (then) Governor for the infringement of a Constitutional provision!
As a consequence, her appointment as Chief Minister was declared null and invalid with retrospective effect.
Hence, although officially she was Chief Minister from this day (14th May 2001) to 21st September 2001), constitutionally she was not the Chief Minister. Ms. Jayalalitha resigned on the very same day, and in her place, she had Mr. O. Panneerselvam sworn in as the official 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
In the meantime, she managed to clear all the charges against her, and came back as Chief Minister officially and constitutionally, on 2nd March 2002.
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