JAYALALITHAA’S VIDEO CLIP SURFACES AHEAD OF RK NAGAR BYPOLL, EC MIFFED
Release of video with model code in place puts fresh controversy on bypoll that was postponed in April on bribery claims
CHENNAI: A dissident leader of Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK released on Wednesday a video clip purportedly showing late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, triggering controversy hours before a crucial bypoll that was postponed in April after charges of large-scale corruption.
P Vetrivel, a leader of the sidelined TTV Dinakaran faction of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), released a 20-second clip that purportedly showed the late CM sitting on a hospital bed and drinking something from a white plastic glass with a straw.
“I was pained at various speculations and insinuations about Amma’s health condition and treatment that I thought it fit to release the video,” said the disqualified MLA. He said the video was shot by VK Sasikala, former aide to Jayalalithaa who is now in a Bengaluru jail on corruption charges. Her nephew Dinakaran is leading a rebellion against chief minister E Palaniswami.
But the AIADMK alleged the clip was meant to incite passions a day before byelections in Chennai’s prestigious Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar, or RK Nagar, constituency, which fell vacant after Jayalalithaa died last December.
“This demeaning (act) is a planned conspiracy by the Sasikala family to bring disrepute to Amma’s fame and image, done keeping in mind the bypoll,” said senior AIADMK leader and fisheries minister D Jayakumar.
State chief electoral officer Rajesh Lakhoni said the clip violated the model code of conduct and the Representation of Peoples Act. The returning officer said he could take action against the alleged culprit.
Jayalalithaa’s 75-day hospital stay and eventual death last year has remained shrouded in mystery, and even caused a split in the ruling party, though the two factions got back together. A judicial commission is probing the late chief minister’s death.
“By itself, the video doesn’t say anything or answer the many questions that arose after Jayalalithaa’s death. But this is the first time any pictorial evidence of Amma has come out,” said Chennai-based political analyst Sumanth C Raman.
Elections to the RK Nagar seat have been mired in controversy since by-elections were announced earlier this year. In April, the Election Commission was forced to countermand the polls after the income-tax department reports indicated ~89 crore were distributed among the voters. Bribing voters is a non-cognisable offence.
This time around, too, the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has alleged that ~100 crore has already been spent by the AIADMK to win the pivotal seat, which is being seen as a measure of the people’s con-
fidence in a government besieged by factional fights.
A total of 59 candidates are in the field with pollsters predicting a triangular contest between AIADMK’s E Madhusudhanan, Dinakaran and DMK’s N Marudhu Ganesh.
Dinakaran, who fell out of favour with Palaniswami and lost the battle for the party’s ‘Two Leaves’ symbol, is fighting as an independent. The counting of votes is on December 24.
Vetrivel sought to shield Dinakaran and Sasikala and said no one knew about his plans to release the clip. He said the duo, and the government, had the clip in their possession. He, though, appeared defiant about possible EC censure. “Has the election commission done anything to check money distribution?” he shot back.
The video itself appeared to have failed to impress many people, who doubted if the clip was genuine. “It seems like a fabricated video and was released with a view to garner votes in the byelection tomorrow,” KS Gita, a friend of Jayalalithaa, told a private television channel. “The video could be morphed. The date of the video is missing.”
DMK working president MK Stalin said it was sad Jayalalithaa’s death was politicised. The BJP questioned the timing of the video’s release and demanded the polls be cancelled.