House Of Cards

Odds are so stacked against Palaniswami that his government may not last its term.

- Lakshmi Subramanian

On February 20, Edappadi K. Palaniswami walked into the chief minister’s office, clad in his usual white dhoti and white shirt, with a dash of ash and vermillion on his forehead and a red thread tied around his right wrist. Four days before, the 62-year old had taken charge as Tamil Nadu’s 13th chief minister, against the backdrop of the simmering public anger against V.K. Sasikala, AIADMK interim general secretary, who is serving a four-year sentence in Bengaluru for amassing wealth disproportionate to her known income.

It was Sasikala who had nominated Palaniswami to the post and asked party legislators to support him. By winning the trust vote in the assembly on February 18, he had passed his first test: to effectively neutralise the rebel camp led by his predecessor, O. Panneerselvam.

But it was clear that the challenges he would face would come not from the opposition, but from within the treasury benches, as he had to keep intact the flock of 122 legislators supporting him. More importantly, he needed to assuage the public anger against his government.

Palaniswami’s plan, as he entered the CM’s office, was to follow in the footsteps of his icon, former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa. He signed off on a slew of populist measures, including the shutdown of state-run liquor outlets and a scheme to distribute two-wheelers to women. Nothing like opening a bag of goodies to win the voters’ trust.

Palaniswami hails from Siluvampalayam, a small village near Edappadi in Salem district. He is influential in the Kongu belt (western Tamil Nadu) and is one of the more popular leaders belonging to the Gounder community. A veteran legislator, he had kept a low profile till 2011, when he became minister of public works in the Jayalalithaa government. He was part of Jayalalithaa’s nalvar ani, a four-member team that used to be the interface between her and the party.