Blow hot, blow cold: Jaya’s power play in Delhi
Jaya’s political clout spread far beyond TN but she hardly was in Delhi to fuel national ambitions. However, whenever she visited Delhi, she left her mark.
Oh, I would have loved to become a lawyer. I was very keen but my background and family persuasions made me an actress. J JAYALALITHAA, Late CM of Tamil Nadu
Ihad followed the political graph of J Jayalalithaa Ji very closely. The way she struggled to come up in the highly competitive politics of Tamil Nadu and ultimately rose to become an iconic leader of the state is something of a legend. I had seen her speak with clarity — perfect voice and diction — with a remarkable facility of expression in English many times. We came to know each other, rather well, when I was I&B Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. We had to debate, discuss and, at times, strongly differ on many issues, concerning television rights.
These engagements created enormous goodwill, which continued throughout. I recall the inauguration of Tamil Nadu’s community radio at the Madras University in 2003, where apart from Jayalalithaa Ji, the then deputy PM LK Advani was also present. The inaugural welcome was done by me and when I completed, she said, “You spoke very well. I am happy”.
Later at dinner in her Poes Garden residence, she suddenly asked, “Which state are you from, Mr Prasad?” Hearing this Advani ji smiled and told her that I am from Bihar. She reacted, “Oh! From Lalu’s land and yet Ravi has such good English!” All of us laughed.
Our friendship grew and whenever she would come to Delhi or I would visit Chennai, depending on her convenience, we used to meet. Thereafter, I also became prabhari of Tamil Nadu BJP and we met meet frequently. Once she called Narendra Modi Ji, the then chief minister of Gujarat, for lunch because he had come for the annual function of Thuglak (magazine) of Cho Ramaswamy. She also invited me. What a grand South Indian lunch she had organised: having 48 dishes.
It was a very joyful meeting between the two leaders and then I asked her what I should tell the media, which was waiting outside her Poes Garden residence. “A 48-dish lunch in itself is big news” she replied with a smile.
I was also her lawyer in two cases before the Madras high court and two before the Supreme Court.
She used to give me good suggestions during the meeting. I asked her that given the clarity of issue she had, did she ever think about joining the legal profession. “Oh, I would have loved to become a lawyer, I was very keen but my background and family persuasions made me an actress.”
After I became a minister in the Modi government, I met her to explain Tamil Nadu’s IT potential. It was a friendly meeting and I was touched by her welcome gesture towards me.
I noticed that her understanding of agenda was clear and categorical. She played very significant role in the evolution of Tamil Nadu and areas in and around Chennai as a big automobile hub, inviting best brands to the manufacturing sector.
She once narrated to me; that, as chief minister, she noticed a lady constable drenched in rain. She ordered that all of them be given proper rain coats and umbrellas.
Some of the noble schemes that came about for the poor, including provision for cheaper food items, are outstanding examples of her pro-poor initiatives.
She had extraordinary interest in books, particularly biographies and we used to discuss a lot of this matter of common interest.
When Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was sworn in as President of India, it somehow happened that she did not get the invite for the swearing in ceremony on time. She was upset and I called her to explain that there was no intent not to invite her. She told me that she knew that civil servants only were to be blamed for this.
When Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was elected vicepresident, I made it a point that she was properly invited and on time. And what a great hit she was at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
When she defied the conventional logic of Tamil Nadu politics, which says any party never returns to power, and got elected as chief minister for second time in a row in 2016, she surely had a long and fruitful life ahead. I am deeply pained by her untimely demise.
Her legacy and many of her contributions in the polity of Tamil Nadu and the country and some of the developmental agenda she initiated will always be remembered by the posterity. My Pranaam to Puratchi Thalaivi. May her soul rest in peace.