Five Reasons Why Swamy May Be Rooting For The ‘Mannargudi Mafia’

Dr. Subramanian Swamy has expressed his displeasure again with the Tamil Nadu governor, C. Vidyasagar Rao, for delaying the coronation of V.K. Sasikala as the next chief minister of the state.

“Sasikala gave a list of MLAs, Panneerselvam did not. She has a majority. What is the governor waiting for?” Swamy said today (13 February). “I don’t understand what is the power tussle all about. The only decision is waited of the governor which is overdue. Sasikala has got 139 MLAs, which is a clear majority, with all the signature of party members. And Sasikala offered to present them in person. And Panneerselvam has not presented even a single paper. I don’t understand why are they waiting for,” he added.

Local media is agog with the news of Sasikala faction holding the MLAs ransom and it is not clear if they had signed the letter of support to her under duress. Perhaps, it would be better to free the MLAs and then let them freely chose between Panneerselvam and Sasikala. Unless this is done, how one can be sure that Sasikala’s support is legitimate?

One wonders why a fine mind like Swamy is supporting what he himself used to refer to as ‘Mannargudi Mafia’? What has changed?

If you go by the huge internet army that passionately backs him, there is always a method to Dr. Swamy’s madness. But if you go by his virulent critics, they would claim that only consistent quality of Swamy has been his inconsistency.

While its tough to decipher the incredibly complex mind of Dr. Swamy, here is our attempt to piece together five reasons why he may be rooting for Sasikala’s faction against O. Panneerselvam.

1. Dr. Swamy has always been a stickler for following constitutional norms. Even during height of Jallikattu protests, though he supported the bull embracing sport, he wanted it to be held in a lawful manner. In all his struggles against corrupt politicians, he has always followed the tiring and time consuming legal process and has accepted the court’s judgments gracefully even when he has lost. So one can say, he is just doing what he has always done: follow the constitution.

2. Its well-known that local BJP Unit in Tamil Nadu has succeeded in keeping Dr. Swamy away from the state politics. The reasons why the state unit wants him away is understandable.

Adopting his typical sledgehammer approach, Dr. Swamy has repeatedly demonstrated his lack of nuanced understanding about the ideological forces and social fault-lines that characterises the political discourse in Tamil Nadu. Despite its socially diverse leadership and cadre base, state BJP has been deliberately pigeonholed by Dravidian ideologues as a “Brahminicial Force” that caters to cultural sensibilities and anxieties of narrow social group. Dr. Swamy has unwittingly lent himself as the poster-boy for this malicious propaganda. Also Dr. Swamy through his vituperative outbursts on Twitter describing Tamil activists as “Porikis” and “Ellis”, has not endeared himself to many in Tamil Nadu who may be otherwise sympathetic to his various political battles.

Taking a contrarian position may be Dr. Swamy’s way of cocking a snook at the party’s Tamil Nadu unit.

3. Dr. Swamy’s aspirations to play an active role in Tami Nadu’s politics are well known. He has been angling to become the state BJP chief but has not been successful so far. He claimed that the NDA government had offered him nominal post of governor of various states but he refused. Dr. Swamy has been insinuating that BJP leaders like Jaitley et al, who he constantly refers to as ‘unelectable Lutyens politicos’ on social media, don’t want him to play any role in Tamil Nadu politics.

Political observers believe that Centre has decided to back the affable O. Panneerselvam in the bitter power struggle to take control of AIADMK and is probably helping him consolidate his position as a popular leader in Tamil Nadu. It has been suggested that some of the deft moves initiated by Panneerselvam to outsmart the sinister machinations of Mannargudi Mafia has been done in consultation with individuals in Central BJP for whom Dr. Swamy shares a visceral hatred.

4. Dr. Swamy is positioning himself to create a far right Hindu political force targeting at a constituency that is disillusioned at the excessive focus on ‘Vikas’ while completely ignoring the cultural agenda of Hindu society that a BJP led government was expected to advance. The lack of visible progress as far as the prosecution front of the UPA era corruption cases has already created a sense of disquiet even among the loyal supporters of the BJP.

While Dr. Swamy has not been constrained in his criticism of the Union government, he has assiduously avoided taking any potshots at the PM or the Sangh. But status quo is something that never excites Dr. Swamy and this may change.

5. Dr. Swamy is being Dr. Swamy.