By S. Sivathasan –

S. Sivathasan

“Elections bring out the worst in us”- Nehru. He said so over six decades ago. Never ever has even an attempt been made at self-purification by the politically engaged. Neither did the state initiate the cleansing process nor put in place fear of the law. Not in India, never in Tamil Nadu. Sordid state is the resultant nature of politics in Tamil Nadu. No comparison is drawn among states. All this while the county’s legislators stare at “Truth Alone Triumphs”- taken from a Hindu religious text – inscribed in Lok Saba for a maxim to live by. In current times, the very worst is running its course, even in the inordinately long prelude to the elections. If not the legislators, how about the segments of administration to cast away this canker? To the mischievous, deterrence alone is the medicine.

Financial Profligacy – Banal DMK Model

When a social formation declines lower than expected norms or below its potential, it knows it is underdeveloped. But it styles itself euphemistically, as a developing economy to have a bargaining chip at aid negotiations. The same recourse is applied to pressurize the centre when the structure is Federal. Unending freebies have bled Tamil Nadu white. Prime Minister Modi is acutely conscious of the dangers.

In 2022 when Sri Lanka was in dire economic straits and was forced to seek IMF aid, Modi warned that “It can happen to India also”. To this writer it was an oblique reference to Tamil Nadu which had the largest “Public Debt” among the states of India. Yet Tamil Nadu proposed a Theme Park on 100 acres last week, to be done in 5 years. ‘Toddy Income; Whisky Aspiration’.

Irish Example

How did Ireland develop into a per capita income of $114,000 vs UK $ 47,374 by 2023? The disparity seen is 242% higher for Ireland! All this achieved in 23 years after overtaking UK in year 2000! Political wisdom, financial integrity and appropriately developed educational programmes take the credit. Above all was the weighty strength of Irish diaspora liaising with the IT professionals in Ireland. The potential for IT greats of Tamil Nadu to create history with the Tamil diaspora in the global village is for sure when the BJP is in place.

It is for such performance that Annamalai is charting his course tirelessly. He has made Padayatra as most efficacious and the vast concourse was seen as the barometer reading in the last week of September. Ever since AIADMK’s bifurcation, the padayatra has shown a change qualitatively. Two senior analysts who have been in the march have spoken eulogistically about the happiness in the participants’ face, their verve, confidence and liveliness. Adding further that personal engagement alone captures the zest in the event. With three more months for the final episode of the padayatra and seven more months for voting to conclude, Tamil Nadu, India and the world will see cataclysmic events

Indian Media has Lost it’s Sheen

Adoring the past is in the nature of humanity. When the present generation makes life adorable with all its roots deep in idealism, there will be a glint in everybody’s eyes. It is yet to be. Currently, dismissing three quarters of media presentations as tendentious, money induced or plainly mediocre, the balance quarter alone is credible enough to study the scene and forecast the future. A luminary from Tamil Nadu known for his exhaustive study and meticulous presentation is Annamalai. To this writer unknown to any of the notables in India, the credentials of the BJP President of Tamil Nadu are unimpeachable. None need rave on this statement. In the last two weeks, concoctions have been many and the percipient are riled.

This effort is part of an ill digested confusion technique to confound the poorly educated. A term not fully understood in all its subtle shades is INCUMBENCY. Modi is said to have this propensity, because he likes a third term to take India to far greater heights. Didn’t Nehru serve even in his 17^th year impelled only by his patriotism? Haven’t the three brilliant leaders of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong and Lee Hsien Loong, taken their country to incredible heights with successive 13 terms? It was competence that gave them the mandate To single out one achievement, the per capita GDP of Singaporeans from US$ 428 in 1960 to US$ 91,100 in 2023. An increase, 212fold. Who is anyone to pummel the Indian polity to deny further terms to Narendra Modi? The sinister strategy in Tamil Nadu is to give the slip to Annamalai. Let us think with Alexander Pope –

“For forms of government let fools contest;

Whatever is best administered is best.”

Who has administered India best, Indians know. Who can administer Tamil Nadu best, the state polity knows.

Blessed and Cursed and Yet with Eyes on Redemption 

What didn’t Tamil Nadu have to surge forward as the foremost state in India? Integrity in financial matters. For over half a century the state had the ignominy of blazoning in a few spurts as the most corrupt in India. MGR’s was an interregnum. After his demise, AIADMK and the DMK were merely obverse and reverse of the same coin. Looting an ancient state steeped in glory and relegating it to infamy. To set matters right Annamalai nailed the first list of corruption taking the amounts to over a Trillion rupees. All that the people have seen in 6 months are a few driblets of action. The second list exceeding another Trillion is yet to reach the multitude. 

Ahead of this, the corrupt have girded up their loins to take their places in the national legislature. Money alone will play its part. A writer of Tamil film songs said “Money alone is God. Even God knows it”. The magnitude of the crime is well known. Nil action only is seen. Is sequestration of movable and immovable assets not possible as a first step? Without immediate initiatives and  no timely action taken within a few months, talking of periodic free election as the hallmark of democracy is no less than sham.

If what is stated above happens, it will be a forerunner to a revolutionary change. Harold Laski said “Fear is the parent of revolution, for it inhibits that temper of accommodation, which is the essence of successful politics”. Let this fear make the unwanted shudder.