On March 22, two days before the nationwide lockdown began, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and his deputy O. Panneerselvam relieved S. Rajenthra Bhalaji, the dairy development minister, of his role as the AIADMK’s district secretary for Virudhunagar. The decision came hours after Bhalaji made a controversial statement linking Covid-19 and religion. Then, on March 30, as everyone waited for Health Minister Dr C. Vijayabaskar to provide pandemic-related updates after a meeting at the state secretariat, Palaniswami, aka EPS, walked out and took his place. The following day, when WHO representatives came visiting, Vijayabaskar was nowhere to be seen. It was EPS who launched a special Covid ward at the government multi-speciality hospital at Omandurar Estate in Chennai.
The two incidents, involving two ministers, had a whiff of days gone by. They reminded political analysts of one J. Jayalalithaa, whose passing, incidentally, led to EPS becoming chief minister.
When he first took over, critics said his rule would be short-lived. However, the day after his swearing-in, he sent out a message. Unlike predecessor Panneerselvam, aka OPS, he chose to enter Jayalalithaa’s chamber and sit in her chair. He then fulfilled five of her poll promises, including phased prohibition, and signalled that he would be a welfare chief minister.
Since then, EPS has gone from a Salem strongman to the de facto face of the party. “Palaniswami has the knack for political manoeuvring,” said senior journalist Tharasu Shyam.
However, several decisions—from the police shooting anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi to the AIADMK supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act—made the party look like the Centre’s puppet. Despite this, EPS has managed to survive.
His rise to power among his peers began only in May 2016, when he not only won his constituency of Edappadi, but also helped the AIADMK win 10 seats in and around Salem. “He has continued to maintain his dominance since then,” said Shyam. “Unlike OPS, who had to guard the chair for Jayalalithaa, EPS had full freedom to run his government.”
Last September, when he returned from an official trip to the US, EPS received a grand reception at the airport, akin to the ones Jayalalithaa or M.G. Ramachandran got. The “accidental chief minister” was renamed the “revolutionary leader.” Weeks later, when OPS returned from a similar trip, he got a lukewarm welcome in comparison.
OPS, who had merged his faction with the party in 2017, was hoping to become AIADMK general secretary. But, by scrapping the post and announcing Jayalalithaa as the eternal general secretary, EPS dashed his hopes. “Even OPS could not oppose this,” said senior journalist Durai Karna. “No one in the party is against his decision. He might be the joint coordinator of the party, but he is considered supreme by the party men.”
Of the 2,500 general council members in the party, at least 1,700 support EPS. “Unlike OPS, EPS grabbed all the opportunities he got and has asserted himself as a leader, both as the party’s joint coordinator and chief minister,” said Karna.
Said political analyst Raveenthran Duraisamy: “He has emerged so strong that even the BJP government at the Centre will not think of toppling him. Unlike in the DMK, every senior leader in the AIADMK under Jayalalithaa knew how to survive. EPS has mastered this (instinct).”
Apparently, there was much opposition within the party when it allied with the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. “Everyone knew that it would be a big loss for both,” said Shyam. “The alliance failed, but EPS emerged victorious.”
While the DMK and T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s AMMK concentrated on making it to Parliament, EPS’s sole aim was to stabilise his minority government. Of the 22 assembly bypolls held around the same time (April-May 2019), EPS focused on just 13 seats; his men won nine of those seats, thus stabilising the state government.
In the recently concluded assembly session, EPS displayed another trait of Jayalalithaa’s; he would give clarify queries lobbed at his cabinet colleagues. Also, just like her, he used Rule 110 (announcements under this rule are not open to debate) to make many decisions. “Usually, in a budget session, the finance minister will be the hero,” said Karna. “But OPS, who used to take Amma’s name in his earlier budgets, now hails EPS.” In fact, these days, most ministers and party MLAs address him as “Edappadiar” (the man from Edappadi) in the assembly.
EPS also ensures that the DMK does not steal his limelight; he takes on the opposition in public meetings and rallies. Once, when DMK president M.K. Stalin called him an “earthworm”, he said the earthworm was the farmer’s friend.
EPS always identifies himself as a farmer. “I was amazed when I heard him orally calculate the acreage of yield in a farm just by looking at the crops,” said Salem Amma Peravai secretary R. Elango.
After the state government announced a protected special agricultural zone in the Cauvery delta region recently, farmers hailed EPS as their leader. “This one announcement flummoxed his rival parties,” said Shyam. “It went on to prove that he had his finger on the pulse. It has earned him accolades from several quarters.”
His party men in Salem describe him as a farmer and a foodie. He enjoys home-cooked food and sweets, but avoids non-vegetarian food on auspicious days, which is a practice in many villages in western Tamil Nadu. He exercises for 20 to 30 minutes every day, takes brisk walks in the number eight pattern and does basic stretches.
Farmers aside, he has also reached out to other segments of the population. For instance, in January 2019, when teachers and government employees went on strike against a new pension scheme, EPS persuaded them to call off the agitation. Within nine days, the protestors returned to work; later, the government selectively dismissed leaders of the protest. “His grasp of subjects is amazing,” State Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar told THE WEEK. “Like Amma, he understands everything we put forth to him, be it departmental or party-related issues. He listens to us and gives us space to work.”
But when Covid-19 struck, EPS could not foresee the spread of the pandemic. He believed that his health minister, who is also a doctor, would take care of it. However, he took over after he got to know about the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi and the spread because of it.
Even when the Centre gave the state only 0822 crore to fight the pandemic, EPS maintained that the state could manage and that it did not depend only on the Centre. “We are self-sufficient as of now when it comes to funds,” chief secretary K. Shanmugam told THE WEEK. “The Centre did not release the funds we asked for. But our chief minister has ensured that every sector is being supported during the crisis.”
However, there has been criticism, too. While states such as Odisha and Punjab extended the lockdown, Tamil Nadu decided to wait for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make an announcement. Also, the government has faced flak from some quarters for allegedly linking the spread of the virus to a particular religion. “The health secretary first said there were cases with travel history to Delhi and later said it was from a single event (Tablighi Jamaat). The government made people believe that Muslims were spreading the virus,” said Aloor Shahnawaz of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi.
Regardless, EPS seems to have won the goodwill of the people, for now. Poll pundits in the state, however, said that, come 2021, the AIADMK might not retain power for a third consecutive term. “He is popular now,” said senior journalist R. Mani. “But how long the popularity will last is the million-dollar question, because even one day is a long time in politics.”