NEW DELHI // Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu claim to be fighting an “in absentia” chief minister as they campaign ahead of state legislature elections on May 16.
The south-eastern state is one of five in India currently preparing to elect – or in the process of electing – new governments, with the results of all polls due to be announced on May 19.
The main opposition party in Tamil Nadu, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), is focusing its campaign on chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s sparse appearances in public.
"The state has had a chief minister in absentia," Manu Sundaram, a party spokesperson, told The National. "Whether it is private industries or issues involving [the federal government] or another state government, Jayalalithaa has taken no steps to meet senior political leaders."
“India’s power minister has gone on record to state that he has not been able to reach Jayalalithaa in 22 months,” he added.
Ms Jayalalithaa’s absence was most notable in December, when heavy rain flooded Chennai, the capital, and other towns in Tamil Nadu. More than 400 people died across the state.
Although no official estimate of the damage was released, Ms Jayalalithaa requested around US$4 billion (Dh14.7bn) in financial assistance from the federal government.
But her government has received only US$150 million by way of federal aid. Through the course of the floods, Ms Jayalalithaa appeared in public only once and did not address the media at all.
As a result of the chief minister’s reclusiveness, rumours have swirled for many months that her health is failing.
Ms Jayalalithaa, who heads the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party (AIADMK), is also fighting a corruption case in the Supreme Court. The charges relate to her former tenure as chief minister, between 1991 and 1996.
The DMK, which has formed an alliance with Congress – India’s main opposition party at a national level – for the election, has also argued that Ms Jayalalithaa’s governance has been passive.
“No new civil infrastructure projects have been drafted, let alone executed,” Mr Sundaram said. “Today, more than 8.5 million young people have registered with the government employment exchange and continue to wait for employment opportunities.”
He added that major companies such as Nokia and Foxconn have left industrial zones in the state, resulting in the loss of 25,000 jobs.
Over the past few weeks, however, Ms Jayalalithaa has re-emerged sporadically in her own party’s rallies, hitting out at the DMK and listing her government’s achievements.
In a campaign stop in Coimbatore on Sunday, the chief minister described the DMK and Congress as “partners in corruption”, naming a number of scams that have involved members of one party or the other.
In contrast, she said, the AIADMK government has provided more than 10 million jobs over its five-year tenure, supplied safe drinking water to 100,000 residential colonies, and fulfilled 52 other promises made in its election manifesto in 2011.
Both the DMK and AIADMK, meanwhile, have promised to impose a prohibition on alcohol sales in Tamil Nadu, where all liquor is sold by state-owned outlets.
But with alcohol sales netting the state 300 billion rupees (Dh16.6bn) – a third of its earnings – last year, plans for prohibition aren’t realistic, according to Chennai-based political analyst Peer Mohamed, because “the state is in bad financial shape”.
Though calls for prohibition may have originated with Tamil Nadu’s politicians, however, they have resonated with the electorate, Mr Mohamed said.
“The health costs associated with alcoholism are high” in Tamil Nadu, he said. “In the sections of the population that are poor and downtrodden, alcohol is causing havoc. There’s no doubt about that.”
SSubramanian@thenational.ae