I first met Jayalalithaa in 1982. The late MG Ramachandran (MGR) was the chief minister and she had just joined politics. We had known each other for 34 years. Jayalalithaa was an extremely intelligent person. She was very knowledgeable. She had great tenacity and courage. Sadly, she was brutalized by the cinema world. The cinema experience was brutal for her. It made her unhappy and sad in her later life.
Jayalalithaa had a huge admiration for my scholarship. She respected my knowledge and my abilities. She really admired me. But the evil influence of Sasikala Natarajan ruined all that. She had total control over Jayalalithaa. Whenever we came together or had a political alliance, Sasikala would intervene and put a spanner into it. Jayalalithaa was unhappy in her personal life and was under her influence.
In the second half of 1980s, both of us were in Parliament as Members of the Rajya Sabha. She made one or two good speeches in the House. But there was nothing much to say about her term as an MP.
After the decimation of AIADMK in 1996, she was devastated. She came to my house in 1997 seeking my help to rebuild the party and take on the DMK led by M Karunanidhi. I obliged her request and we formed an alliance. In the 1998 Lok Sabha election, I won from Madurai. Jayalalithaa had joined the AB Vajpayee-led government at the Centre. She wanted Prime Minister Vajpayee to make me his Finance Minister. The Asian Age had even carried an article on that. But it did not happen. Jayalalithaa was upset. She decided to topple the government. That’s because she hated rejection. She kept telling me to topple Vajpayee government. I advised her not to do anything in a hurry. But I had to relent. I told her that she had to deal with Sonia Gandhi if Vajpayee goes. She was ready for that. I arranged that famous meeting (“tea party”) between them. The NDA government fell.
But Sonia Gandhi ditched her. I don’t want to reveal the reasons for that. After that, her enemy DMK joined the NDA. She was out of power both at the State and the Centre. It was a terrible experience for her. But she staged a comeback in 2001 and again became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
We broke up several times because of Sasikala who tried to blame me. She was an evil influence over Jayalalithaa all through her political career. Again in 2007, Jayalalithaa approached me. She wanted me to become the President of India. I declined her offer telling her that I had a teaching assignment at Harvard University. I was also not sure about my winning chances. Because many political leaders were afraid of me.
I feel that AIADMK will explode after this. Her successor O Panneerselvam won’t be able to run the government. Because Sasikala won’t let anyone grow. Second, only 30% MLAs of AIADMK are from the Thevar community (that Panneerselvam and Sasikala belong to). Almost 70% are non-Thevars. They may not back Thevar hegemony. Panneerselvam will find it difficult in the days to come.
(As told to DP Satish)
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