When MGR turned away Indira Gandhi from contesting the Thanjavur Lok Sabha bye-poll

Stripped off her MP seat in 1978, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was looking to contest from Tamil Nadu’s rice bowl- Thanjavur with the support of then CM MG Ramachandran.

Over the last week, much has been written and said about Congress President Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from the Wayanad constituency in Kerala. Critics have said Rahul is unsure of victory in Amethi and is relying on minority votes, while his party is hoping that his decision to contest from Wayanad will energise the Congress machinery in the south. Be it either reason, the Gandhi scion's nomination from Kerala comes 40 years after his grandmother Indira Gandhi was denied the same in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.

It was the year 1979. Prime Minister Morarji Desai failed to prove majority in Parliament and had given in his resignation to President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy. A caretaker government was tenuously in place at the Centre. Congress (I) leader Indira Gandhi had only the year before that, been stripped off her MP post. Within weeks of winning the Chikamagalur bye-election, in December 1978, the 'Iron Lady' was expelled by Parliament and arrested for breach of privilege and contempt of House. She was also battling the taint of having extended the state of emergency twice in the country. And now, when it became clear that the only way back to Parliament was a safe seat, she chose Tamil Nadu. Indira Gandhi had set her mind to contest from the state’s rice bowl - Thanjavur.

The state was then ruled by AIADMK's MG Ramachandran, a supporter of Indira. According to the book MGR, A Life authored by R Kannan, he supported her previous election in Chikamagalur both politically and financially. This time, however, Indira's decision proved to be MGR's 'waterloo moment'. While he initially welcomed the idea, a week after the plans were in place he turned her away from the constituency, forcing her to beat a hasty retreat.

What happened?
Reports from 40 years ago suggest that the people of Tamil Nadu had a soft spot for Indira Gandhi despite her 'non-democratic' actions. She was fondly referred to as 'Indiramma' and was still supposed to be the favourite of the masses. In the deep south, her alleged act of tyranny - the Emergency, was justified by MGR as an event that brought discipline and order in the country. And why wouldn't he? The Indira government had dismissed the ruling DMK in 1976, paving way for his victory.

The Thanjavur Lok Sabha seat was initially held by AIADMK's SD Somasundram but he had resigned to join the state government, leaving it vacant. He had won the seat, defeating a DMK candidate, with a margin of close to a lakh in the 1977 General Elections. And the AIADMK readily agreed to offer the seat to the Congress (I) and support its candidate in the bye-election on June 17.

It seemed the ideal seat for Indira Gandhi to make her comeback. Her advisors were skeptical that Chikmagalur where she had won in 1978 from would be problematic because then Karnataka Chief Minister Devraj Urs was opposed to Sanjay Gandhi being politically active. And Rae Bareli was not an option considering she was routed in 1977 in a crushing defeat for the Congress. Moreover, both MGR and actor Sivaji Ganesan were reportedly willing to campaign for her and their popularity amongst the public made Indira's supporters believe she would score an easy victory. But a month ahead of the election, things took a sudden turn.

"On 19 May, Indira Gandhi, MGR and Tamil Nadu Congress (I) strongman G Karuppiah Moopanar met in Delhi. The following day, newspaper reports said she would contest from Thanjavur," reads R Kannan's biography of MGR. But the same day, according to the book, MGR met Morarji Desai. "...Desai told him to choose between him and Indira Gandhi, but had no problems with his support for Congress (I). Boxed into a corner, just when the formal announcement was awaited, a day before Indira Gandhi’s visit to Madras, MGR declared that if she contested, it could give rise to a ‘serious law and order problem’ and he wanted to avert ‘another Madurai."

He was referring to the violence that broke out in the town when Indira visited in 1977. It had led to police firings as well.

According to an India Today story from 1979, "Feelings against Mrs Gandhi run high in former chief minister M Karunanidhi's DMK camp because she had dismissed their government in 1976. If the election fever were to heighten political passions there, MGR may not have been able to deal with the situation unless he had the unreserved support of the Centre which controls the para-military law and order enforcing organisations."

MGR, according to his biography, insisted that his decision was not based on arm twisting by Desai.

"On 22 May, MGR denied that there was ‘any connection or relationship’ between the decision and his meeting with Desai. He also argued that Desai could have easily stopped him from supporting the Congress (I) itself, and described the Congress (I) hand symbol as ‘this hand is the hand that feeds, that embraces, that blesses and [is the] mother’s hand'," reads R Kannan’s book.

But the damage had been done. Indira went on to contest from Medak in Andhra Pradesh and eventually become Prime Minister again in 1980. And though MGR claimed that Indira's life would have been in danger if she contested from the seat in Tamil Nadu, she was unwilling to immediately forgive him. Instead she chose to ally with the DMK, a party that had bitterly opposed her in the past. And despite tumultuous years that followed, this decision was another significant step in the forging of what would eventually become a strong relationship between the DMK and the Congress.

(Source: TNM)

MGR fed 66 lakh children with his nutritious mid-day meal scheme

MGR is possibly the most iconic leader in Tamil Nadu’s history. His fame was helped in great part thanks to his introduction of the Midday Nutritious Meal Scheme in the early 1980s.

Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran, or MGR – AIADMK founder, three-time chief minister, Bharat Ratna recipient – dominated Tamil Nadu’s stratosphere for four decades. In this richly detailed biography of the man often called vathiyar, or teacher, R. Kannan traces MGR’s life from his poverty-ridden years – he was a Class III dropout – to his rise as a matinee idol, before becoming a politician of repute.

Here is a small excerpt from the book about MGR’s legendary mid-day meal scheme launched in 1982 that fed 65.7 lakh schoolchildren and others.

NUTRITIOUS MEAL SCHEME

In between all this political maneuvering, MGR went ahead with his emphasis on the rural economy, cottage industries, strengthening last-mile connectivity, and, importantly, his social welfare measures. On 1 July, MGR joined the children of Pappakurichi village, in Trichy district, for lunch, to inaugurate the now celebrated Midday Nutritious Meal Scheme. The meal programme initially covered 56.9 lakh rural schoolchildren, providing them a meal of about 400 calories a day. Extended to the urban areas from September 1982, covering, in all, over 52,000 centres, including 31,000 schools, it took the number of beneficiaries up to 65.7 lakh children. The scheme provided employment to 1,80,119 persons, of which 1,58,387 were destitute women. The cost of the programme was Rs. 133 crore per annum. Attendance at primary schools would go up to 96.2 per cent among the six to 11 age group and to 66.03 per cent in the 11 to 14 age group. The nation had rarely seen a scheme of this magnitude. From 15 January 1983, the scheme would also cover 1,50,000 old age pensioners, orphans and destitute widows. In 1987 Nedunchezhian would put the number of total beneficiaries from 1983 at 92 lakh.

Among the other measures MGR announced later were providing a job per family, on 2 September,10 and free tooth-powder for children, on 14 November 1982. In 1987, plans for free footwear were afoot. The age of freebies had arrived.

1982 ASIAD: MGR seated between Jayalalithaa and Janaki Ramachandran

MGR said on the launch of the lunch scheme:

This scheme is an outcome of my experience of extreme starvation at an age when I knew only to cry when I was hungry. But for the munificence of a woman next door, who offered a bowl of rice gruel to my mother and us, when we were starving for three days, and saved us from the cruel hand of death, we would have left this world long ago. Such merciful women, having great faith in me, elected me as chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

To wipe the tears of these women I have taken up this project.

MGR little realised that he had etched a permanent place for himself in history books with the launch of this scheme. ‘It is epoch-making. Governments may come and go, but this scheme for 20,000 villages will go on,’ Somasundaram, the revenue minister, had said prophetically. The scheme itself was not new. In 1920, two years after Kurichi Rangaswami Aiyangar had begun a lunch programme for students of the Hindu Theological School, the Justice Party’s Sundarrao Naidu introduced free breakfast to pupils in a corporation preparatory school in Thousand Lights, Madras. Extended to four other schools by 1925, the paucity of funds saw an end to the avant-garde meal scheme and a consequent drop in school enrollment. On 17 July 1956, Chief Minister Kamaraj introduced the midday meal programme in Ettayapuram, Tirunelveli district. The scheme was gradually expanded and, by 1962–63, 27,256 of the state’s 28,005 aided or government-run schools were covered.

However, at the time of the launch of the new scheme, on 1 July 1980, the existing one covered only a third of the students for 200 days in a year. MGR had scaled it up 25 times. The new scheme covered all poor children for 365 days a year and the state bore the expenditure of 45 paise per head. MGR also set up and chaired a high-power committee to monitor the scheme’s progress. Chief Secretary K. Diraviam served as member-secretary, with support from two dozen senior officials and a politician, and saw to the success of the scheme. Jayalalithaa, who was the politician in Diraviam’s team, travelled across the state to spread the good word on the scheme. District collectors and party officials met her. On her return, she reported her findings on the administration and party affairs to the chief minister, who acted on them. She would later attribute her elevation in 1983 as propaganda secretary to this work.

Ironically, when the scheme was discussed in the Cabinet, Nedunchezhian and others had opposed it, fearing corruption and wastage. MGR vetoed them, saying that any scheme would see a certain degree of corruption and that the baby cannot be thrown out with the bathwater. In MGR’s scheme, education was secondary and feeding was primary. When MGR suggested, ‘Let us provide a hot meal with vegetable dishes to the pupils, akin to the lunch served in a middle-income family to the children by their mother’, Aranganayagam was struck by his large heart and vision. A committee that included social worker Rajammal Devadas was formed; Devadas took a leaf out of the UN’s World Food Programme book and adapted it to local needs. Greens and spinach were included and an ayah who had studied up to Class Ten was to take care of the pre-school children.

The scheme was ingenious and would do more than any of his other welfare measures to perpetuate his do-gooder image, leading DMK leader Murasoli Maran to perceptively comment:

MGR is grossly exploiting the state’s machinery and finances to project his own image by distributing alms. When he has failed on each front, he has started this to divert the people’s attention from their hardships.

But Kalaignar had gone further, charging that MGR was turning children into beggars. Taking offence, he argued that Kalaignar should have instead offered advice on how to better implement the scheme.

Ironically, when the DMK came to power, they were compelled to continue the scheme, adding eggs twice a week and, in the 2016 elections, promising milk. So popular was the programme. Much later, on 28 November 2001, the Supreme Court, acting on a public interest litigation, would rule that government and government-assisted primary schools should provide cooked mid-day meals.

But the state had a deficit of Rs 300 crore and a determined MGR had to find nifty ways of funding the project, which were not all kosher. A Chief Minister’s Nutritious Noon Meal Programme Fund was created and donations to it were exempted from income tax. Contributions to it became a pre-requisite for obtaining government clearances and for routine administrative orders. Another Rs 10 crore was raised by way of a day’s salary of government staff, one month’s salary from ruling party MLAs and MPs, and the earnings from one show at cinemas. But money was also raised in many controversial ways, when, within a year, MGR would relax prohibition, although S. Ramachandran said that it was done towards filling the party’s coffers.

(Source: TBI)

How MGR came to Jayalalithaa’s rescue as her family fought over housekeys

An excerpt from ‘MGR: A Life’ by R Kannan:

The year 1965 would bring MGR and Jayalalithaa together, his most paired heroine and political successor. In the aftermath of MGR’s death, in April 1999, she would tell her interviewer Simi Garewal, ‘One-third of my life was dominated by my mother, the other part—a major one—was dominated by MGR. Two-thirds of my life is thus over. One-third remains, and this part of my life remains for myself . . .’

Once ‘terrified of meeting strangers’ and hating the limelight, Jayalalithaa, in her own words, was ‘propelled by fate into two high profile careers’—films and politics—neither of which she really desired or liked, but then, as she said, once she put her heart into it, she gave her fullest. She described her introduction to MGR in the autobiographical series that she wrote for twenty-four weeks, beginning in late 1978, that was later aborted. On the first day, on the sets of Aayirathil Oruvan she greeted MGR who said ‘welcome’ to her. It was to be a no-holds-barred welcome. He became her ‘mother, father, friend, philosopher and guide’ and ‘sort of took over [her] life’.

MGR was of a ‘very strong character’, like her mother, and he ‘dominated [her life] completely’ after her mother. She said she was ‘never in awe’ of him but ‘respected him a great deal’. She ‘admired his intellect’ and ‘felt a lot of sympathy for him because he had a hard life’, like herself.

MGR came to fill her mother, Sandhya’s, shoes after her death. Jayalalithaa wrote about a time when she had been unwell for two–three days, at the end of which she fainted at home on the sofa. The only man at home, her uncle, was out of town and her two aunts did not know how to respond. Jayalalithaa’s manager telephoned MGR for help. MGR called for a doctor and came over to Jayalalithaa’s place. The doctor wanted Jayalalithaa to be hospitalized and MGR asked the aunts to get ready. As the aunts did not come down, MGR decided to see for himself what was keeping them. What he saw was the sad spectacle of the aunts fighting over the house keys. An angry MGR took the keys from them and asked them to come downstairs.

It took some hours for Jayalalithaa to regain consciousness at the hospital. MGR was patiently waiting around all this time at her bedside and when she woke up, she did so in MGR’s presence. MGR handed over the house keys to her. She learnt of the circumstances only later.

‘I will always remember this act with gratitude. Who would have taken such trouble? He wanted to protect me, and he guarded them and handed them over to me. If not, I don’t know what all would have been lost! I cannot even imagine it,’ wrote a grateful Jayalalithaa.

Karnan’s (1964) director B.R. Panthulu offered Jayalalithaa a role in Chinnada Gombe (Gold Doll, 1964). Seeing the ‘rushes’ director C.V. Sridhar signed her up for his Vennira Aadai (White Dress, 1965), which became her debut Tamil film. Panthulu also signed up Jayalalithaa for Aayirathial Oruvan, as heroine opposite MGR.

MGR was shooting for Panam Padaithavan in the same studio that Vennira Aadai was being made. He entered the sets of Vennira Aadai one day and Jayalalithaa wrote that she was not aware that she had to greet the hero. Director Sridhar beckoned Jayalalithaa over and told her: ‘MGR has come. You are to act in his film . . . He is a big hero. Go greet him and talk to him.’ As Jayalalithaa folded her hands to say ‘vanakkam’, MGR motioned her to sit down. Jayalalithaa wrote that she did not remember what she was asked or what her response was.

***

Aayirathil Oruvan was only the third occasion. She would say later that the movie ‘laid the base for [her] political life’.

***

In the first scene in Aayirathil Oruvan, instead of thanking MGR for having freed her, Jayalalithaa’s character scorns him thus: ‘You have bought me, making me a slave worth 2 lakhs.’ As Jayalalithaa did the shot without any inhibition, MGR told her: ‘You remind me of Bhanumathi madam. After a long time, I see her courage, spirit, enthusiasm and zest.’ Jayalalithaa said ‘Many thanks’ in response.

Jayalalithaa would usually go in before the others, be seated next to the director and read a book, and sometimes, she would even cross her legs. No one had taught her to stand up and greet MGR or the others on their arrival. Two or three days went by like this. But later, some busybody drew MGR’s attention to this fact, persuading him that the behaviour was indifferent, if not disrespectful.* MGR appears to have spoken to Panthulu, who spoke to Sandhya, who in turn spoke to her daughter. Jayalalithaa grew upset, and said she would rather go back to college and quit acting. The following day, Jayalalithaa refused to come out of her room. Nambiar and MGR had already arrived at the set. As Sandhya enlisted Panthulu for help, he came home to plead: ‘I am older and ask you to do this for me.’ Jayalalithaa then said, ‘I will do it for you.’

After this, greeting MGR became a preoccupation for her. Sometimes MGR went directly to the shot. Jayalalithaa would go over, hang around to catch his eye so that she could quickly wish him and return to her seat.

On their first shoot for the song Naanamo (Are you shy?), she was to lie down on MGR, who was seated on a bed. It was their first night as per the movie. She said that until then no man had ever embraced her. The bed and the embrace made her shake involuntarily. MGR, who sensed that it was because of his embrace, asked her, ‘Why? Why this much weakness? Why so much nervousness?’

Sivaji Ganesan, Karunanidhi, MGR and Jayalalithaa

She also possessed a strong fighting spirit. When the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) refused her membership, saying no woman had been independently given membership—only wives, daughters or siblings of males had been admitted—Jayalalithaa said that her father died when she was a year old and she could not bring him back to life for the sake of the membership nor could she marry just to become a member. ‘Just because I don’t have a dad or a husband, how could you refuse me the membership?’ Of course she became the first woman member of the TNCA.

MGR appears to have been greatly fascinated by this brilliant convent-educated girl, who was indifferent to his superstar status, and the relationship proved most intense on and off screen.

She described their bond thus:

Our relationship is very peculiar. Although he is so much older than me, every spare moment on the sets we would spend talking to each other, discussing every subject under the sun. We used to talk about science, philosophy, literature. Both of us are deeply interested in classical music, astrology and astronomy. We have so much in common.

Among other things, they shared the same determination, charisma, crowd-pulling capability, and an interest in film and politics. But they were also very different, as time showed. While on the sets of Raman Thediya Seethai (Sita that Ram Sought, 1972), MGR, reading Jayalalithaa’s palm, told her that she would enter politics. ‘Me? In politics? No way,’ said Jayalalithaa. ‘Write it down, Ammu [Jayalalithaa]. My words will surely come true,’ he replied. Little did MGR know then that he would be the one to make those words come true.

(Source: TNM)

Why Jayalalithaa and MGR must be blamed for the ongoing crisis in TN politics

Jayalalithaa was suspicious of the vaulting ambitions of everyone around her, especially Sasikala’s clan, who are known for their rapacity.

The current turmoil within the ruling AIADMK is certainly a legacy of the recently deceased Jayalalithaa.

She didn’t care to designate anyone as her heir apparent, though she should have been fully aware of the fragility of her health.

One is only reminded of “Après moi le deluge,” that is, “after me the deluge”. The statement, generally attributed to King Louis XVI, could be interpreted to mean either that he wanted disaster to follow his death, or that the man didn’t care one bit for what was in store.

World over, leaders seldom bother to groom a successor – a most obvious reason being the fear that the chosen one could upstage the mentor themselves. Was Jawaharlal Nehru himself not guilty on that score? To be charitable, he couldn’t find one or, to lambast him, he was too megalomaniacal.

Clearly, Jayalalithaa was suspicious of the vaulting ambitions of everyone around her, especially Sasikala’s clan, who are known for their rapacity.

Right from the time she was inducted into the AIADMK by MGR, she smelt conspiracy in every development to checkmate her own growth. She kept nagging him to declare her the future leader. Though he had dragged her out of hibernation with the hope that her glamour could help the party at the hustings when his health was becoming worrisome, he was equally worried of her arrogant ways, and her delusions of grandeur. He would keep chopping and changing the party executive to please her now and then, but she didn’t have everything her way.

At the All World MGR Fans’ conference (yeah, he had one such event, seriously!) at Madurai in 1986, MGR was expected to make the historic announcement, but she had to content herself with the honour of presenting a scepter to the party leader, though later on she would make it look as if it was MGR who was presenting it to her, thus in effect passing on the baton.

Anyway, MGR disappointed her and the media at large by studiously refusing to name her at all in his concluding speech, and Ammu (as Jayalalithaa was fondly called by him) left Madurai in a huff, instead of accompanying him as originally planned.

The inner party tussle continued when MGR died, after which, thanks to a series of remarkable turn of events, she succeeded in capturing the party leadership.

At the time, I remember asking a senior commentator close to MGR, “Why was it that he left things like this? In a limbo, as it were? He could have easily announced either Jayalalithaa, RM Veerappan or Kalimuthu, anyone, anyone as his heir, not many would have protested… But he didn’t. Why was it so?”

Pat came the response, “Simple, he didn’t want to nominate anyone because he didn’t t want the party to survive him at all. He died and with him the party, he wanted history to say…”

He said so in all seriousness, not cracking jokes as was the commentator’s wont. I couldn’t pursue the conversation as we were interrupted by something. But the narcissistic streak was not a sufficient rationale in itself, after all it was MGR who had brought in an unwilling Jayalalithaa. Simply, he should have been dismayed by her quirks - his were fine, but not hers!

As for the disciple herself, even though she was a novice and was desperately dependent on seniors to plot her moves in the initial days of the AIADMK split after MGR’s death, she didn’t trust anyone, her mind possibly poisoned by the wily M Natarajan (Sasikala’s husband and her advisor at the time). When four veterans quit in disgust, she dubbed them “fallen hair.” (sic)

Yet again, when a Tamil magazine survey named Thirunavukkarasu, a close associate of hers and who had played a key role in consolidating her position, as the most popular leader in the party, next only to Jayalalithaa herself, he was promptly expelled. He was never rehabilitated. (He is presently heading the Tamil Nadu Congress, but is said to be close to Sasikala’s husband.)

As her confidence in herself increased and she kept winning elections, Natarajan too was thrown out, and she would hurl scurrilous abuse at him, even while his wife continued to be her aide at Veda Nilayam.

Sasikala being exiled twice, her undertaking not to let her extended family damage the party’s reputation and return to favour, is all recent history. Much as she depended on Sasikala for a whole host of things, they indeed enjoyed a special chemistry.

She never allowed her any position in the party, and her clan had to satisfy themselves with whatever they could extract through their crafty maneuvers.

Jayalalithaa’s health issues - knee-related problems, diabetes and cholesterol - were all widely known, and so was her inability to stick to a healthy regimen. Predictably the end was swift. Could be the astrologers she trusted, including a senior journo who is gushing in a Tamil series these days, gave her false hopes.

Nothing else can explain her failure to draw up a will, assuming she didn’t. If she had, and if it is being suppressed, clearly Sasikala and co have a lot to hide. Either way her position becomes that much problematic.

One can’t be sure whether in their after-life the French king, chacha Nehru or even of MGR himself would have gloated, but one can plausibly hear, “Oh, the deluge after me, after all,” from beneath the Marina sands.

(Source: TNM)