It?s all broad smiles and big enthusiasm that surround Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa at the weekly media encounter at Fort St George in Chennai. She takes all the questions?from silly queries like why she is sporting studs in her ears after such a long time to serious issues like what she intends to do to overcome the power crisis?with ease. Although scribes remember her earlier image of an autocratic ruler, things seem to have dramatically changed. Now, she wishes to be seen as a CM who?s not in confrontation with the Centre and she wants to appear warm. So that, at the end of the no-holds-barred session of an hour or so, scribes carry back positive vibes.
The media meetings are meticulously arranged and everyone is allowed to ask questions. When quizzed about what prompted her breaking her vow not to wear ornaments, at the very first media meet, she was all smiles. When the party succeeded in wresting power in the recently held assembly polls, many party workers requested her to wear ornaments and some of them even threatened to commit self-immolation if she did not. ?Many have died for the party but I did not want them to die on such a happy occasion. Therefore, I changed my mind,? she said, and the whole audience was in splits. The 63-year-old yesteryear?s actress had resolved not to wear ornaments in 1997 when the then DMK government confiscated her ornaments during an investigation into cases relating to her ?disproportionate wealth?.
While answering queries on the grave power crisis, she took a dig at the previous DMK regime. Tamil Nadu was a power surplus state that sold electricity to other states; when the DMK came to power, things got worse, even the installed capacity was not being delivered, and capacity addition was nil. According to her, proper maintenance wasn?t carried out, transmission and distribution losses were huge, and the state was forced to buy power. The DMK regime did this deliberately to mint money from the contracts, she says.
Jayalalithaa seems to have learnt from the mistakes of her earlier two regimes, when she was reluctant to meet the media. This time around, she promised to meet the media at least once a week. She has not only kept her promise but has even been replying in both Tamil and English. Many feel that she has matured as a ?statesman?. Even while referring to her arch rival, DMK boss Karunanidhi, she makes it a point not to be harsh. She has firmed up detailed plans for everything, be it for overcoming the power crisis or distribution of free rice. At the same time, she doesn?t mince words when it comes to abandoning the DMK secretariat?the R1,000 crore engineering marvel?and settling for Fort St George. She has initiated a judicial probe into the alleged irregularities surrounding the construction of the still-unfinished complex.
The new CM has been quick to seize many political issues. She has made the Tamil Nadu assembly adopt a unanimous resolution seeking to impose economic sanctions on Sri Lanka on the Tamil issue. She has also blocked many welfare measures initiated by the Karunanidhi regime, offering her own schemes as a replacement. The pet DMK programme of free colour TVs has been scrapped; its housing and insurance schemes have been replaced by her own programmes.