LIVE AND LET LIVE IS THE WAY OF INDIAN POLITICS

Indian politics is not a winner-takes-all game. If the ruling party had shown some generosity instead of coming down so hard on Mahua Moitra, goodwill would have abounded

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IT was the English playwright, William Congreve, who gave the language its famous maxim, “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” There is also the general interdiction: Thou shalt not “kiss and tell”. No matter how badly a relationship sours, hitting an ex below the belt makes one a cad, not an honourable person.

south of the Vindhyas, the revenge of a wronged lady has been memorialized in the tragic tale of Kannagi in the great Tamil epic Silappadikaram (c. 100 CE). she tore out a breast and cursed a city, bringing the ancient state of Poompuhar to an end. so feared is Kannagi that she is worshipped—or should i say appeased—as a goddess. As is Draupadi in Tamil Nadu.

Let us switch from mythology to indian politics, which is no less imbued with larger-than-life heroes or redolent with fable and folklore. Consider the women leaders perceived to be wronged: indira Gandhi, Gayatri Devi, J Jayalalithaa, to name only three. indira Gandhi put Jaipur Maharani Gayatri Devi in jail. The Maharani was not only re-elected, but indira Gandhi lost power in 1977. Of course, the rag-tag opposition that had united only to bring her down also collapsed. she returned as india’s prime minister less than three years later in 1980, winning 353 seats in the Lok sabha, more than BJP has ever won.

And Jayalalithaa or Amma as she was popularly known? her political career was chequered: she did not just have a remarkable rise to power in 1991 after her mentor M G Ramachandran or MGR, supremo of the All india Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, died in 1987. After the 1996 state elections, she and her party were almost wiped out. she was also jailed by rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. But she returned to power with a thumping majority in 2001.