NEW DELHI/MADRAS, 26 April— Rejection of AIADMK-stalwart Jayaram Jayalalitha’s nomination in all the four constituencies she filed her papers from has elicited a strong reaction, both from her supporters and rivals.
A defiant former chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Jayaram Jayalalitha, pursued her hectic election campaign in the state yesterday, brushing aside a ban on her contesting the May 10 assembly elections.
Supporters of her All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party claimed that her disqualification in all four constituencies where she had filed her nomination papers would only fuel a “surge of sympathy for her”.
The claim was made after tens of thousands of men and women packed a public meeting to hear Jayalalitha soon after election officials barred her from fighting the polls because of her conviction in a corruption case.
Political parties allied to the AIADMK also vowed to stand by her. “Our alliance continues,” said Tamil Maanila Congress spokesperson Gnanadisekaran. “There is nothing different today just because she has been prevented from contesting.”
Congress party leader E.B.K.S. Elangovan was more forthright: “She has not been prevented from becoming chief minister.” Jayalalitha also declared that she remains the AIADMK-led front’s chief ministerial candidate. Jayalalitha, whose AIADMK-led alliance is widely seen as capable of defeating the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazahgam (DMK) in the elections, meanwhile continued with her whistle-stop campaign tour in the state’s southern districts.
Referring to the election ruling, she asked huge crowds: “Is it fair to me? Tell me, was the Election Commission decision fair?” The frenzied and near deafening chorus was: “No!”
Jayalalitha said that a “conspiracy” hatched by DMK government, which used the returning officers as its “tools” led to her disqualification from contesting. She alleged, “The officials succumbed to pressure.”
She told a rally at Thirupathur in Sivaganga district late Tuesday night: “You should think that I am contesting from every single of the 234 constituencies in the state and ensure the victory of our secular front.”
Rajya Sabha (upper house) MP Cho Ramaswamy, a known supporter of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, said most of Tamil Nadu’s voters appeared to be rooting for the AIADMK front, whether or not Jayalalitha contested.
AIADMK members admitted that her supporters were disappointed when election officials rejected her nomination papers in Krishnagiri, Andipatti, Pudukottai and Bhuvanagiri constituencies on Tuesday.
Many put up a brave front. “Jayalalitha will be our chief minister, whether she contests or not,” said V. Maitreyan, the AIADMK candidate at Mylapore here.
The AIADMK alliance is banking on Jayalalitha’s charisma and her popularity with Tamil Nadu’s rural women to overcome the DMK-led alliance which includes Vajpayee’s Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Meanwhile, Philip Thomas, the spokesman of the AIADMK advocates’ team, has indicated that the AIADMK will not approach the Election Commission on the issue immediately
.Election analyst G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said that Jayalalitha would never be expected to go down without a fight. “Unless the center intervenes or unless the Tamil Nadu governor says she cannot hold office in view of her disqualification, nothing can prevent her from becoming chief minister if her alliance wins these elections,” he said.
