For a new image, Jayalalitha goes slow on changes

B Kolappan

Chennai, May 27: Hardly a fortnight into her second stint as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and Jayalalitha has succeeded in making many wonder whether she is a changed personality these days.

Many would like to accept at face value her statement that she wants to start with a clean slate, going by how she has functioned so far. Immediately after being sworn in, she directed police not to disrupt regular traffic on roads to make way for her convoy, a decision that had caused much heartburn during her earlier stint.

Her maiden speech in the Assembly after taking over also took many by surprise. ‘‘Let by-gones be by-gones. Let whatever happens now be for good,’’ she said.

She has taken the media aback in other ways too. A week ago, a select group of journalists were invited for a tete-a-tete with new Finance Minister C. Ponniyan.

The Minister, who has held key portfolios such as Law and Transport in the MGR Cabinet, now ranks No 2 under Jayalalitha. He eagerly sought the opinion of scribes on various aspects of the budget. It was a rather unusual gesture from the minister, and he certainly could not have invited them without a nod from Amma. Generally ministers under Jayalalitha are wary of, if not hostile to, journalists.

When an English daily carried a picture of locked-up rooms of the former chief minister’s secretaries, the government issued a denial, claiming there was nothing unusual about locking up an old room.

It was still in use and to suggest it had been sealed because of its association with the previous regime was motivated, the press release asserted. Although the fact remains that IAS officers, who were part of the former chief minister’s secretariat, are all on compulsory wait.

All the same she is concerned about projecting a positive image of herself in the media. Besides bringing in her loyalists into the secretariat, she has not effected any major bureaucratic reshuffle so far. However, she has already revamped the police set-up.

But the question on people’s minds is how and when will she settle scores with DMK leaders against whom she has sworn vengeance? Already rumours are doing the rounds that officials are scanning files of various ministries. The AIADMK manifesto had promised to look into irregularities in purchase of conductors for the state electricity board.