The Rediff Interview / V S Chandralekha
On October 12, for the first time in the 308-year history of the Madras corporation, a mayor will be voted to power. The battle between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's son, M K Stalin, and the former IAS officer turned politician V S Chandralekha promises to be tough. Also in the fray is a comedian from Tamil films, S S Chandran, of the MDMK.
When Dr Subramanian Swamy, president of the Janata party, appealed for support for Chandralekha, who heads the party's Tamil Nadu unit, little did he realise that support would come from an unexpected quarter. Former state chief minister Jayalalitha Jayaram withdrew her AIADMK party's candidate in Chandralekha's favour.
The decision shocked many Madras residents who have not forgotten the persistence of Dr Swamy and Chandralekha in bringing to light several misdeeds of the Jayalalitha regime. Not a day passed without Swamy producing some fresh revelations about Jayalalitha's misdeeds.
And Chandralekha? She is the bureaucrat on whose face acid was flung during Jayalalitha's rule, scarring her countenance forever. Several months in hospital and after numerous operations, Chandralekha resigned her job as an IAS officer to join the Janata party. She has been trying to get justice ever since. The case is now with the Central Bureau of Investigation. Ironically, the DMK used the acid incident to win votes in the assembly election.
How could she accept Jayalalitha's support? Chandralekha clarifies her stand in this interview with Shobha Warrier.
Why did you decide to contest this election? Is it because Karunanidhi's son Stalin is a candidate for the mayor's post?
Initially, I had no intention to contest the election. It was decided at the very last moment. When it became clear that the DMK was going to field Stalin as a candidate. Leaders of the Congress party, our alliance partner, Kumari Anandan, Tindivanam Ramamurthy, Krishnaswamy, Maragatham Chandrashekhar and Vazhappadi Ramamurthy felt this kind of flouting of all democratic norms should be strictly opposed.
It was their decision that I should be fielded as a candidate because they felt I have all the necessary qualifications to be a good mayor.
Is it because you were once an IAS officer?
As an IAS officer, I held various important positions in the government. As of now the corporation's administration needs a lot of improvement, and they felt I would be able to provide a good administration. I was persuaded to be a candidate. It came as a surprise to me.
In Tamil, they call the mayor Nagara Thanthai(father of the city). Whoever called the mayor so expected only a man to be mayor. As a woman, do you think you have an advantage over the others?
I have never felt disadvantaged because I am a woman. In my political life and earlier in my career, I never found that being a woman was a disadvantage. So it is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage.
If you win the election, they will have to change the gender.
(laughs) May be Nagara Annaior something like that. I think I'll get the support from all sections of society. There is a general feeling among women that the DMK is anti-women. The DMK had always been unpopular with women. The image of the party is such that generally women don't feel secure when the DMK is in power. Therefore, women will certainly support my candidature.
In the assembly election, the DMK-TMC alliance swept the poll. Soon we will have corporation elections. How do you assess your chances?
They swept the assembly election, not because of their inherent merit or strength. They actually won because of the campaign done by Dr Swamy and myself. We didn't have an organisation, so we could not reap the benefits. They harvested what we had sown. Because they had an organisation. Like in the zamindari system, what the tenants cultivate the zamindars take away. They won because people felt disgusted with corruption. So it was an anti-corruption vote, not a pro-Karunanidhi or pro- Moopanar vote.
Karunanidhi doesn't have a good track record. In his first term as chief minister he institutionalised corruption. All corrupt officers were given important positions and coterie rule was brought into Tamil Nadu during his time. The various corrupt deals are documented in the Sarkaria Commission report.
He is not a paragon of virtue. So, it is not that people thought he would give an excellent rule and voted him to power. They might have felt a lesser evil should be voted to power.
Now that he is in power, he doesn't show any signs of improving the state or rooting out corruption. Many corrupt officers are back in the saddle. It (the anti-corruption move) is only being used as a political strategy to threaten the AIADMK, break the party so that it will pave the way for his son's rule in the future.
The main Opposition party is the AIADMK, so if the AIADMK is weakened he feels it is advantageous not to his party, but to his son whom he wants to succeed him in future. That is what he is doing now. I am not holding a brief for AIADMK, please. All that I am saying is that he is going slow in all the cases. Though he is in power, he is doing nothing about it.
Take my own case. Four months have passed. The confessional statement of Surla (the man who is alleged to have thrown acid at her)was in the hands of the police. There was no stay from the Supreme Court as far as the trial was concerned but the government did not move one foot in the case. All they want to know was the advantage they can get from all the cases.
In your manifesto, you have promised to check corruption. As a mayor, how much can you do?
Corruption is built into the system, so you have to attack the system if you really want to root out corruption. There is so much of corruption everywhere because there is too much of government control. Now you take the case of the corporation, you have building rules and various other rules which are so complex that the official who is implementing them can manipulate them the way he wants. The moment you get a chance to manipulate, corruption is going to creep in. So, what you have to do is, simplify the rules so that the common man will understand them. That is one way, may be the only way, you can root out corruption.
Also involve neighborhood groups in the activities of the corporation so that people's participation is there. They can take up issues when something wrong happens. When the official knows that people are watching his moves, it will definitely check him from being corrupt.
'The party is not Jayalalitha's property'
When you asked for support from various political parties, did you expect support from the AIADMK? No. I didn't. The appeal was a general appeal. It came as a bolt in the blue.
Did it surprise you when it came?
It really surprised us. We were totally taken by surprise. I think it is a very intelligent political move on her part.
Did you think twice before accepting the support?
See, it was not support that was sought. It was support that was given. I didn't have to reject it. After all, she is the general secretary of a party. When she is giving the support, it is the party that is giving the support. What do I have against the party? I have nothing against the cadres. In fact, Karunanidhi tells them, Chidambaram tells them that they (the cadres) can always come and work for them.
You should understand that the party is not her (Jayalalitha's) personal property. So when she is extending support, it is the party that is extending support, not she. You have to a make a distinction between the two. I am not compromising on any of my cases. The cases are with the various investigating agencies. They are not in my control at all. They are either with the state government or the central government. I am not giving anything away by accepting her support.
The general feeling is quite different because it was Dr Swamy....
No, the general feeling is not so. A section is trying to spread that deliberately. They want to divert the attention from the dynastic rule and Stalin so that the entire issue gets diverted. It is not correct at all. She gave the support because it suited her.
Will Dr Swamy stop attacking her (Jayalalitha) now?
No, why should we? See, it is not attacking. I think the film culture has taken hold of all of you in a big way! You all have such wonderful imagination. What is this attack? The attack had never been personal.
On her wealth.
Okay. We are not going to leave that. Cases are all there. Why are you assuming that something is going to happen to the cases? Has anything come in your way to show that we have slowed down in the process?
No.
Then, why are you imagining things?
Is not a delicate situation now? She has extended her party support to you and, if Dr Swamy continues attacking her..
Why should there be any embarrassment? We didn't ask for her support. But I am not going to say no to a support that came.
I have heard that you very close to Jayalalitha when you served the state as an IAS officer. Was it true?
Yes. I have known her. I do not know what you mean by close. I have known her. Then the SPIC deal came through and I differed with her.
Was that the only reason why the relationship got strained?
You see, there was never a close relationship. So there was no question of the relationship getting strained. What do I say? Yes, I have known her. But I'll not say I was close to her. I have been a friend of hers, but always maintained a distance as I was a civil servant. As a civil servant, you may have many friends. But there is no such thing like straining of a relationship.
Straining of the friendship, then.
Once she became chief minister , where is the question of a friendship? She was the chief minister, and I was a civil servant. That was all about the relationship.
I have also read in some papers that it was you who introduced Sasikala to Jayalalitha. Is it true?
Yes, that is true. Sasikala also admitted it. I had sent a recommendation to her (Jayalalitha) to take Sasikala as her videographer. She had a video shop then. As propaganda secretary of the AIADMK, Jayalalitha's programmes used to be videographed. This lady (Sasikala) came and requested me whether I can talk to her (Jayalalitha) and see that she was made her (Jayalalitha's) permanent videographer. So I recommended her.
Will you ever be able to forgive the person who was behind the acid attack on you?
I am not a vengeful person. I don't carry any grudge. If there is real repentance on the part of that person, may be I'll forgive. Because ultimately one should leave everything to God, shouldn't we?
Did that incident leave any scar inside you, like the scars that are there on your face?
I'll tell you something that happened in the hospital. One of my friends brought a Mother Superior from a convent to meet me. I was all bandaged. She prayed for me and told me, 'I see light and know you will recover to a great extent,' which I have. See it could have been worse. She told me not to have any negative feelings and not to keep any anger inside me because she felt that would delay the healing process.
From that moment onwards I told myself that I will not entertain any negative feelings in me. It has helped me, helped me a lot.
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