Muhammad10
T20I Debutant
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Tremendous efforts from both posters mean we have joint winners this week!
Congratulations! [MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] and [MENTION=134809]sensible-indian-fan[/MENTION]
http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...-ruling-an-Indian-state&p=8978656#post8978656
http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...-ruling-an-Indian-state&p=8978672#post8978672
Congratulations! [MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] and [MENTION=134809]sensible-indian-fan[/MENTION]
http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...-ruling-an-Indian-state&p=8978656#post8978656
http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...-ruling-an-Indian-state&p=8978672#post8978672
You have to understand the difference in political culture between Tamil Nadu and the rest of the states. Tamil Nadu is a pretty conservative state where people love their cult personalities. Combination leaders and national alliances never work here as much as individual leaders. Other states must have had atleast 10 CMs but TN has had just about 3 or 4 CMs in the last 50 years. Populist cult leaders appeal more to the masses than the other normal politicians. You could say that's naivety but that's how politics work here.
Both parties are indeed corrupt and I'm not really a fan of both eventhough every family in TN leans towards one party or the other. Jayalalitha was mired in disproportionate assets case for a long time and her first term was her worst and most when she lavished public money for her personal interests like the marriage of her aide's nephew, etc. Of course the family politics of Karunanidhi and their corruption is well known. I'm not really a fan of Jaya, but I have to admit that her later terms especially the last one was very good and relatively corruption free. Perhaps her biggest achievement was the enormous heights she rose as a lone woman in a deeply conservative state amidst the male chauvinistic society and political system of India. Indira Gandhi was the last powerful woman leader that India had but even she had a family system to launch from. Jaya was a fully self made woman and you could see her grit and will power in the many interviews she has given (see her interview in the devil's advocate with Karan Thapar. Poor guy ended up getting roasted by her).
She hardly gave a damn about higher powers and never shied away from voicing strong opinions, which is pretty incredible in a male dominant society of ours. She tended to be a bit autocratic and the sycophantic adulation she commanded from her party workers might be a cringeworthy, but she wouldn't have reached the heights she reached if she was soft in our society. But her biggest achievement, by far, has been improving the role of women in TN. She empowered women in the state, made reservations for them in the police force, gave 50% subsidies on scooters for them, reduced female infanticide and brought about a lot of maternal welfare programmes. That the state is arguably the safest for women is a lot due to her contributions.
The Dravidian parties give away a lot of freebies every election which could be interpreted as blatant vote bank politics. But the difference was that while both parties were indeed corrupt, both of them made sure to implement a lot of welfare programmes for the poor and the downtrodden. For the poor who spends everyday in uncertainty, he hardly cares about which MNC company invests in the state. But essential amenities in life provided free or in subsidies will appeal the most to him and make a huge difference in their lives, which is why they are populist cult leaders and you see such mass cult worship. Despite the corruption charges of the Dravidian parties, TN has made massive improvement in almost all the indices and is among the top 3 states of India. It has excellent primary health care system and great health indices, and contributes the 2nd largest economic output to India after Maharashtra. So the political scene is not so simple as black and white.
To put it simply, they like all other politicians indulged in corruption but almost always made sure they implemented a lot of welfare programmes for the less privileged strata of the society and hence their mass appeal. Both Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha are charismatic leaders and they sway the masses through their charismatic personalities and speeches. Both have excellent oratory skills and they attract you through their way of speech, just like MGR or Annadurai did in the past. But there are no leaders of remotely similar caliber after both of them which will leave a huge void in the TN political scene after them.
Let's look at various things one by one.
First of all, she did do corruption for her gain. That's true. So let's get that out of the way.
Now corruption is not something that few do in politics. Every single political party is corrupt in India. Every single one of them does it (maybe AAP does not cos they collect donations but even they could be doing it).
You CANNOT run a political party in India without the extra funds to manage your cadres. National parties make their money in big dealings while regional parties have to do it in a more ugly way but everyone does it. Even the non-corrupt leaders in a political party do corruption for the sake of bringing in funds to run the party of they turn a blind eye to those who do it and let them do the dirty work for the party. Of course, there are also cases where they turn blind eye to not mess the dynamics of power equilibrium.
When my Dad was heading a company that was doing business with govt, he saw a lot of stuff. He has had to sometimes "deal" with politicians whose names would be easily recognizable if I had to mention them here. Corruption was rampant (still is). Once an iconic politician of a national party wanted to get into manufacturing materials that army mens wear (it was not even the area of focus of the company my Dad was heading) and the goal was to make slightly inferior materials and profit from them.
Yes, you read that right. Its a bizarre story. My dad was very very uncomfortable (but the owner wanted to go ahead)...thankfully the deal went down. I don't want to go into more details. This is the level. This doesn't mean the other national party is a saint. Is khel me SAB NALAYAK hain.
Corruption happens everywhere.
But people are sympathetic if you don't steal from the poor or you don't do corruption to increase your wealth. Jayalalitha did some corruption to increase her wealth. She got arrogant, it was a mistake but she made up for that BIG TIME by being a great CM in her later tenures.
So the centre will make an announcement about a complex issue like demonetization (which has its pros and cons) and the blame for any screw ups that happen at the ground level lies on the state government's shoulders?
Take any issue in India and do a tally of how many people die in EACH state due to it every single month. You will find that deaths happen all the time and those which get highlighted are the ones which are connected with issues that everyone is discussing about now.
Sure, negligence could be a problem but not sure if it is that case here. Banks can only process things at the speed they do. ATMs can only give out money that's in them. Its not like central govt gave everything to state government and there is a bottle neck there. Also old people standing in queues is no way state government's fault.
Moreover even if some screw up had happened, Jaya was literally unconscious when all of this happened. So I don't see a point as to how she can be blamed. Nobody rates others from AIADMK much.
That's a bit of a naive perspective brother.
First of all, AIADMK is no way similar to SP and BSP. Look at any of Jaya's interviews and you will get an idea of how clear cut and analytical female she is (she has her issues no doubt but she really knows the game).
Second of all, TN is one of the top states in India in GDP and social indicators. Jaya can be criticized for not developing industries as much she should but in social indicators, she has been a gun (leaving aside the freebie thingy which unfortunately Karunanidhi started and she had to join in).
DMK looted lands from people. AIADMK gave it back to those people (due to Jaya). Go to southern TN and you will see how much support Jaya has. As I mentioned before, people are eternally grateful for what she did.
Amma's canteen can be criticized but it has been a HUGE HUGE boon for those who want meals at a cheap cost.
Recently there was floods here which could have been managed better. But once the water had receded, a lot of activity took place and the govt got into solving the whole mess. Roads and everything were laid out pretty fast.
Law and order is not a problem here like in UP. In DMK rule, goondas used to have much more freedom and people used to fear them (not like everyone in state was in fear but people did talk about that). Even then law and order situation was not as bad as UP. But under Jaya, you actually feel safe.
On top of everything, Jaya doesn't have to play communal politics to win elections. Sure, caste politics will remain but she is one leader who gets support across various castes and religions.
I may be looking a bit too much into the media coverage about her death but I get a feeling that beneath the obligatory talks one gives when someone dies....there is a heavy heavy positive undertone here.
And in my opinion, she fully deserves it.
A female like her never wanted to join movies or politics. She just wanted to become a lawyer. Her mom pushed her into movies and MGR got her into politics and she excelled in both. For a female to rise up the ranks to successfully lead a Dravidian party (that was built on anti caste and Brahmin hate) by getting widespread support from people ALL over TN is an amazing achievement.
Nobody cares even if she got convicted of some corruption during her 1991 rule. They would still vote for her and her only.
In my opinion, she was a legendary politician.
TN will miss her a lot. Even more so, when you look at what nonsense there is in front of us now.
RIP our Amma. You were a true gun (inspite of your flaws).
