the taming of the shrewd

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The Taming Of The Shrewd

A famous friendship. A famous fallout. There has been a seismic

political rupture in Tamil Nadu. This is the inside story of why it

happened. Ambition. Betrayal. Fact. And f iction. Jeemon Jacob has

it all

Photo:PTI

POLITICAL FRIENDSHIPS AREN¶T SUPPOSED TO DIE

this abruptly, at least not ones of such long standing. The corridors of

power in Chennai are agog with the sudden, inexplicable blood feud

that has broken out between AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, chief



minister of Tamil Nadu, and Sasikala Natarajan, her closest friend

and political lieutenant.

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The Posse is Out of Poes Garden She never f orgets.W il l she f orgive? The Enigma of Amma



A little over a month ago, on 17

December 2011, in a dramatic and

sweeping move, Jayalalithaa

expelled Sasikala and her brood

from her legendary 36 Poes Gardenhouse in Chennai (The Posse is out

of Poes Garden, by Sai Manish, 31

December 2011), triggering a

Byzantine story of thwarted

friendship, overweening ambition

and political vendetta that perhaps

has no equal in India. The sheer

seismic nature of this rupture ²and the huge political ramifications

it is likely to have ² can only be

understood if one recalls the sheer

depth and spread of the

relationship.

Over the past 25 years, ever since the death in 1987 of her mentor

MG Ramachandran ² or MGR, as the late chief minister of Tamil

Nadu was known ² no one has been c loser to the enigmaticJayalalithaa than Sasikala. She has been everything: soulmate,

housekeeper, political confidante. And a tremendous but unelected

power centre.

In this time, Sasikala¶s family ² the µMannargudi mafia¶, as it is

disparagingly called, the name referring to the small town in Tiruvarur

district that Sasikala comes from ² has become extremely

controversial and influential. The family includes her husband M

Natarajan, her brothers, nieces, nephews and brothers- in-law. In

1995, in one of the most flamboyant displays of their friendship, the

wedding of V Sudhakaran, Sasikala¶s nephew, was presided over by

Jayalalithaa. It was a staggeringly ostentatious event, with tens of

thousands of guests, and became an election issue the following

year, when Jayalalithaa was voted out of office.

Trusted men Chief SecretaryDebendranath Sarangi (top) and DGP KRamanujam



Much of this is part of Tamil Nadu folklore. The legendary friendship

had even withstood the many dark cycles of political wilderness,

when Jayalalithaa would lose power and stay largely out of public

eye. This time round, when the AIADMK swept back to office in the

summer of 2011, it seemed the good times were back for Sasika laand her family. They were in business again.

Yet, barely six months into power ² and into the perceived good

times ² and the two are at daggers drawn. To many, it just doesn¶t

seem to make sense. Yet, in the intricate political circles of Chennai,

there are some who know the story ² or at least elements of the

story. The result, as TEHELKA finds, is a fascinating mix of fact and

myth, of conspiracy and unverifiable truths, and political rumours so

bizarre, it¶s almost as if they could only be true.

SINCE JAYALALITHAA¶S sudden ambush on 17 December, Sasikala

² once known to loyalists as C hinnamma or Little Mother ² has had

the police at her doorsteps. A case has been registered against her

brother VK Divakaran (nickname: The Boss) and he is on the run,

evading arrest. Rumours in the state say he is already in illegal

custody. The case against Divakaran relates to a complaint by one

Kasthuri Balasubramanian of Rishiyur village in Tiruvarur district.

Kasthuri has alleged that her house was demolished on 28 November

2011, by seven persons and some local officials, at the behest of

Divakaran. In response, the police raided Divarakan¶s house in

Mannargudi as well as his office in the nearby Sengamala Thayar

Arts and Science College that he runs.

That¶s not all. Ravanan RP, married to Sasikala¶s cousin, has

apparently been tortured by the police in the course of anti-corruption

investigations. The Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance is believed to

be preparing to act against many members of the Sasikala clan. The

There is a perception the mafia was hoping to replace Amma

(Jayalalithaa) with Chinnamma, and install Sasikala as the CM



long queues of favour-seekers and hangers-on have disappeared.

Ousted by Jayalalithaa, the Mannargudi mafia is in deep trouble.

Why did this happen? The grapevine is hyperactive. There is a

perception that Sasikala, 55, is guilty of planning a palace coup, andof the Mannargudi mafia hoping to replace Amma (Jayalalithaa)

with C hinnamma, and install Sasikala as chief minister. Allegedly, the

disproportionate assets case that Jayalalithaa has been trave lling to

Bengaluru for ² she is being questioned by a special trial court there

² gave the Mannargudi group ideas. An unfavourable judgment or

remark by the court and an orchestrated political campaign, it was

felt, would have put pressure on Jayalalithaa to resign and hand over

the government to somebody she could trust.

IT SOUNDS like a wild conspiracy, but worse has happened in Tamil

Nadu politics. Also, though Jayalalithaa has been so dependent on

Sasikala all these years, she may have been smelling something

fishy. Till a month ago, her Poes Garden residence was full of

Sasikala¶s men. (When Sasikala had first moved in with her in 1989,

she had brought 40 servants from Mannargudi to Poes Garden to run

Jayalalithaa¶s house. All maids, cooks, securitymen, drivers and

messengers at Poes Garden were hired from Sasikala¶s hometown.)



Click To Zoom

For a decade, nobody had access to Jayalalithaa without Sasikala¶s

permission. All independent assistants had been s lowly but

systematically moved out. It had reached such a stage that ministers

were discussing policy issues with Sasikala. Civil servants were

briefing their chief minister in the presence of Sasikala. Her words

were considered Jayalalithaa¶s command. She was the unstated

deputy chief minister.

She also had a grip on the party structure. The AIADMK organisationis divided into regions, and most of the regional directors were

Sasikala¶s relatives. As such, MLAs were either chosen by the

Mannargudi mafia or tried to ingratiate themselves to it.



Jayalalithaa had created a Frankenstein¶s monster. It was she who

had initially told party workers to meet Sasikala if they wanted to

bring issues to her notice. Sasikala grabbed the opportunity and

began to filter what information went up to the chief minister.

Jayalalithaa became a prisoner of the Sasikala coterie.

So how did Jaya lalithaa find out? According to an AIADMK insider, it

was Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who alerted the lady in

Poes Garden and warned her about the Mannargudi mafia. Modi

apparently told Jayalalithaa to keep a watch on her inner ring. He is

believed to have indicated to her that big investors were avoiding

Tamil Nadu because of the extortionate demands of Sasikala and her

family.

Specifically, an NRI businessman who came to Tamil Nadu with a

project had to shift to Gujarat because the Mannargudi mafia had

sought a 15 percent cut.

The degree and brazenness of Sasikala¶s operations were a shockfor Jayalalithaa. She could not have been unaware that members of

the Mannargudi mafia were taking money for transfers and postings

in the state bureaucracy and from local business groups ² for party

affairs, among other things ² but Modi¶s cautionary story told her of

corruption of a far higher order: she was being kept out of the loop by

Sasikala.

Shortly after the conversation with Modi, there came the episode of

the Chennai monorail project. The chief minister was keen to put it onthe fast track and favoured awarding it to a Singapore company that

she felt was best equipped. She told Chief Secretary Debendranath

Sarangi to begin the paperwork. At the end of the process, when the

file reached the chief minister, she found a Malaysian company had

Jayalalithaa was allegedly given sedatives and chemical substances

that had small quantities of poison by a nur se appointed by Sasikala



been put on top and the Singapore company downgraded. She called

Sarangi and questioned him.

It was Sarangi¶s turn to be surprised. He told her he had received the

file with a note from her saying the Malaysian company waspotentially the best choice. Jayalalithaa asked for the entire

correspondence related to the monorail project and was surprised to

find her signature on a note favouring the Malaysian company. It was

forged. Furious, Jayalalithaa summoned Sasikala, who denied any

involvement.

Following another tip-off, Jayalalithaa sought independent medical

opinion on the medicines she was being given. Without telling

Sasikala, Jayalalithaa apparently went to see a well-known doctor.

Her tests revealed, the story goes, that she was being given

sedatives and chemical substances that had small quantities of

poison. Her nurse at home had been appointed by Sasikala, and

served the chief minister fruits and medicines at regular intervals.

By now Jayalalithaa had realised she had to act fast. She was also

beginning to sense the unease in the bureaucracy and picking up

murmurs of protest against the Mannargudi mafia. For instance, ever

since re-election, she had planned to charge senior DMK leaders in

land-grab cases. Several senior DMK leaders had been arrested and

a case filed against MK Stalin, son of former chief minister M

Karunanidhi.

Jayalalithaa had told the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption

(DVAC) to implicate the Karunanidhi family only when it had solid

evidence. Nevertheless, the case against Stalin was a weak one.

When Jayalalithaa asked Pon Manickavel, the then Inspector General(IG), Intelligence, he told her the case had been filed following

consent from Sasikala. Jayalalithaa could smell trouble and a secret

deal between the Mannargudi mafia and the DMK family.

It was K Ramanujam, Director-General of Police (DGP), Tamil Nadu,

who put the last nail in the coffin. Ramanujam was alerted by



Shanker Bidari, DGP Karnataka, about a secret meeting of the

Sasikala family in Bengaluru in the first week of December.

Apparently, intelligence officials in Karnataka had bugged the room

where the meeting took place and the tapes made their way from the

state police HQ in Bengaluru to its counterpart office in Chennai.

According to

police

sources in

Tamil Nadu,

the tapes

revealed

details of the

conspiracy

against

Jayalalithaa.

The meeting

in Bengaluru is believed to have been attended by Sasikala,

Natarajan, Ravanan (married to Sasikala¶s first cousin), Midas Mohan

(Natarajan¶s business partner), VK Sudhakaran, TTV Dinakaran

(Sasikala¶s nephews) and M Ramachandran (Natarajan¶s brother). At

the meeting, Jayalalithaa¶s troubles re lating to the disproportionateassets case were discussed, and names of potential successor chief

ministers thrown about.

After listening to the tapes, Jayalalithaa decided to get going. For five

days, the state police kept a close watch on individual members of

the Mannargudi mafia. Ravanan ² his father-in-law and Sasika la¶s

father were brothers ² was tracked in Singapore, where he had gone

for a business meeting.

It was a meticulous operation. The DGP was tasked with gathering

evidence against the Sasikala cabal. A private detective agency was

hired. Phones of the Sasikala family members and their close

associates were allegedly tapped. Daily reports were sent to the chief

minister directly.

On the warpath Sasikala¶s husband Natarajan is inching closer to the DMK

Photo: A Shankar



At the end of it all, Jayalalithaa

had a thick dossier on the

Mannargudi mafia but also

realised its tentacles were all

over her party and government.They had the men and resources

to seriously challenge her. It was

not going to be easy to strip away their influence. Changes were

made in the state police¶s intelligence wing, which was believed to be

a hotbed of Sasikala loyalists. Jayalalithaa posted Thamarai Kannan

as the Inspector General (IG), Intelligence, as she wanted an officer

who had no links with the Mannargudi mafia.

Next, the chief minister made changes in her personal security. Her

personal security officer (PSO), Thirumalai Swami, had been serving

her for the past 10 years, brought into the job from the state police in

2001. It is believed Sasikala used him to monitor the chief minister¶s

movements. Swami too has been transferred.

Finally at a Cabinet meeting, Jayalalithaa made it clear ministers

would receive instructions from her alone and should not act on

messages delivered, allegedly on her behalf, by Sasikala or others.

Many ministers took this lightly, presuming Sasikala and Amma had

had a temporary tiff. The Mannargudi mafia, however, was alarmed. It

was beginning to see a pattern.

On her part, Sasikala was confident that she could win back

Jayalalithaa through emotional blackmail, and that the chief minister

needed her around in Poes Garden. It was a fatal miscalculation. The

ground had shifted.

On 17 December came the moment of truth. Jayalalithaa asked the

Mannargudi clan to pack up and leave her house. Some of these

people had been staying in Poes Garden since 1989, when

Jayalalithaa became Leader of the Opposition. No amount of

pleading would get her to change her mind. Meanwhile, police and

Nobody had access to Jaya

without Sasikala¶s nod. It had

reached such a stage that

minis

ter s

were talking abo

utpolicy issues with Sasikala



legal teams, as well as chartered accountants, began investigating

the Sasikala family¶s investments and started the process of

recovering money.

Ravanan was picked up as soon as he landed from Singapore. A raidat his house recovered Rs 50 crore in cash. Ravanan ² or Ravanan

Ratnaswami Pichai, to give his full name ² heads the Coimbatore-

based Midas Golden Distilleries, which supplies liquor to the Tamil

Nadu State Marketing Corporation. Sasikala set up the disti llery in

2002 when Jayalalithaa was in power, but it is understood that the

company continued to get lucrative contracts through the DMK years

as well.

Chief adviser Modi alerted Jayalalithaa that Sasikala was extorting money from businessmen

Photo: AP



Ravanan holds the key to Sasikala¶s business empire. It is estimated

to be worth at least Rs 5,000 crore. ³That is certainly not an

overestimation,´ says a senior politician, ³in fact, it may be an

undervaluation. The chief minister doesn¶t have much money with

her. Her household, government and party were run by theMannargudi group.´

Even tickets for the 2011 Assembly election were sold, and Sasikala

is alleged to have collected 300 crore in this manner. Of course, the

tickets were sold to Mannargudi sympathisers, and thereby the deal

was doubly beneficial.

One example cited is that of Sivarajamanickam, former district

Congress president in Tiruvarur, who was given the AIADMK ticket

from Divakaran¶s home constituency. As it happened, he lost to TRB

Raja, son of TR Baalu, former Union minister. Even so, Divarakan¶s

plan had been to get a weak man to represent Tiruvarur and so

control the constituency himself.

IN THE six months the AIADMK has been in power, the Mannargudi

mafia has been very busy. According to some observers, it may

already have earned Rs 1,000 crore ² largely from the bus fare hike

(which benefited private operators who paid kickbacks) and the liquor

price hike (which helped Sasikala¶s own companies).

³The Mannargudi mafia was very organised and well structured,´ says

an AIADMK functionary. ³They had persons tracking ministers and

key bureaucrats. With every minister, one personal assistant would

be attached to monitor him. There is a saying in Tami l Nadu that we

have a minister wearing a dhoti (the real minister) and a minister

wearing a pant (personal assistant). The pant minister is often morepowerful than the dhoti minister.´

Jayalalithaa is also believed to

have identified 13 minister s who



On 18 December, Jayalalithaa

expelled leading members of the

Mannargudi mafia from the party.

She also transferred 38 personal

security officers attached toministers. Among those expelled were Sasikala and her husband

Natarajan. Also out were Divakaran, S Anuradha (Sasika la¶s niece

and the managing director of Jaya TV), Sudhakaran (once called

Jayalalithaa¶s foster son), Ravanan and others.

However, Jayalalithaa did not touch any of her Cabinet colleagues,

not even those regarded as close to Sasikala and her brother. In mid-

December, Public Works Department Minister KV Ramalingam called

on the chief minister. She greeted him with a disarming smile and

then threw a barb: ³Welcome, future chief minister of Tamil Nadu.´

Ramalingam allegedly turned pale.

Ramalingam, 54, is a former Rajya Sabha member. In the 2011

Assembly election, he was given a ticket from Erode (West)

constituency on Sasikala¶s insistence. Ramalingam is well-regarded

for his astrological skills and knowledge of tantra. It is understood he

carried out rituals in early 2011 to facilitate the AIADMK¶s victory inthe Assembly election.

It is here that the story gets murky. Jayalalithaa now believes that in

the past few months, Ramalingam was told to depute a Kerala

astrologer to perform tantric and other occult rituals to help Sasikala

replace Jayalalithaa as chief minister. Ramalingam apparently

double-crossed Sasikala, and got the ri tuals and pujas performed not

to help Sasikala but to help himself. Trusted by none, Ramalingam

could soon lose his job in the Cabinet.

Now the heat is on the Mannargudi mafia. Sasikala herself may be

arrested in a Coimbatore land-grab case. The account books of Jaya

TV reveal many discrepancies, and Anuradha too may be arrested in

may be dr opped soon. An

overhaul of the bureaucracy is

already on the anvil



this connection. Divakaran has apparently been offered a deal: return

the money and buy freedom. He is still bargaining, insiders say.

Ilavarasi Jayaraman, Sasikala¶s sister-in-law, has already been

detained and interrogated by the Tamil Nadu Po lice.

Jayalalithaa is also believed to have identified 13 ministers who may

be dropped soon. Already, Agri SS Krishnamoorthy has been

removed as Minister for Commercial Taxes and placed in the School

Education Department. The ministries of industries, electricity,

transport, public works, revenue, prohibition and excise, and forests

have been identified for a purge. The veteran O Panneerselvam,

Minister of Finance and former chief minister, is also said to be

jittery.

An overhaul of the bureaucracy ² especially in the Revenue

Department and other key economic departments ² and in the upper

echelons of the police is already on the anvil.

One source says the chief

minister is planning changes in

the Legal Department and could

replace many prosecutors

handling sensitive cases. The

future of Navaneetha Krishnan,

Tamil Nadu¶s advocate general, is

also under question in political circles.

Nevertheless, all this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Mannargudi

mafia is believed to have investments not only in Tamil Nadu and

neighbouring states, but also in Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai. Itwas so comfortably ensconced in business affairs of the party and of

Jayalalithaa personally that Sasikala was acting as printer and

publisher of Namathu MGR, the AIADMK publication. As she was

shown out of Poes Garden, Sasikala was forced to sign documents

relinquishing the publisher¶s post in favour of Jayalalithaa.

Tickets f or the 2011 Assembly

polls were so ld to mafia

sympathiser s, and Sasikala is alleged to have collected Rs 300

cr in this manner



That was the easy part. ³To recover the money looted by the

Mannargudi mafia,´ says a senior politician, ³needs a lot of work.´

On its part, sections of Sasikala¶s family are understood to have

established contact with the Karunanidhi family and sought theDMK¶S protection. Things will come to a head only after the court in

Bengaluru decides on the corruption charges against Jayalalithaa.

THE NATURE of this fallout between the two most powerful women in

Tamil Nadu cannot be fully understood unless one recalls their

beginnings. Sasikala came from humble roots, and ironically, from a

family across the political divide: the DMK.

Today, Mannargudi, a sleepy town 34 km from Thanjavur, is famousas Sasikala¶s home territory, though she was not born there. Her

family actually comes from Thiruthuraipoondi, 28 km away from

Mannargudi, where Sasikala¶s grandfather Chandrasekharan ran a

medical shop. His son Vivekanandan took over from him and was

known to be a DMK sympathiser.

Vivekanandan¶s elder son Sundaravadanam, who worked in the State

Bank of India, was transferred to Mannargudi in the late 1950s. He

constructed a house there and moved his brothers and sisters to help

them get a better education. Sasikala was the fifth among the

siblings. She grew up as something of a local beauty. The entire

family had strong DMK moorings but the idyll ended when

Sundaravadanam was caught for diverting loans meant for poor

families to his mother¶s account and pocketing the subsidy. Following

this, he was shunted out of Mannargudi.

In 1974, Natarajan, a DMK youth leader, wanted to marry Sasikala.Sundaravadanam objected because Natarajan¶s government job was

only a temporary political appointment. However, Natarajan

approached Sasikala¶s brother-in-law Vivekanandan, and permission

was finally given. Ironically, Sasikala was blessed at her wedding by

DMK supremo Karunanidhi, who had been impressed by young

Natarajan¶s oratory. No one could have foreseen at the wedding that



Sasikala would wind up as the confidante of Karunanidhi¶s most bitter

political opponent.

During the Emergency, Natarajan was sacked from his job. He took

his dismissal to court and Sasikala sold her ornaments to pay thelawyers. It was a hard life. Shortly afterwards, she opened a video

rental shop in Chennai to make ends meet. She purchased a video

camera and learnt to shoot social functions and weddings for a fee.

Around this time, there was a woman called V Chandralekha, who

was district collector of Arcot, and Jayalalithaa was already a

powerful figure in the ruling AIADMK. Natarajan, who knew

Chandralekha, approached her to put in a word with Jayalalithaa, so

that his wife could record Jayalalithaa¶s public events. Chandralekha

obliged. The introduction changed Sasikala¶s destiny. Sasikala

impressed Jayalalithaa with her skills as a cameraperson.

Chandralekha remembers her as being ³shrewd, hard-working and

determined´. She certainly was.

In the late 1980s, as MGR began to weaken and then passed away,

there was a power struggle within the AIADMK. Jayalalithaa was

harassed by RM Veerappan, then acting chief minister, and extremely

isolated. It is during this time that Sasikala moved closer to her and

finally into her residence.

Sasikala provided Jayalalithaa emotional and managerial support.

Natarajan, an old hand in politics, masterminded Jaya lalithaa¶s

comeback. The rest is well known.

DESPITE THE rupture now, the Mannargudi mafia is not giving up.

On 17 January, Natarajan addressed a Pongal gathering in Thanjavur and sent veiled threats to Jaya lalithaa. ³Now, I have become a

complete leader,´ he said. ³Now, I¶m a leader without strings or

fetters« Many people have come here expecting to hear decisive

announcements from me. I will take the decision at an appropriate

time. I changed the government in Tamil Nadu. Many feel that

someone else is reaping the reward for my efforts. I¶m silent because



the decision I take should not adversely affect the peace and

harmony of the state«´

Clearly provoking the chief minister, he also exclaimed he needed Rs

50 lakh to build a memorial for the ³martyrs of the Tamil Eelam war´in Sri Lanka. The money was raised in a matter of minutes. First,

Natarajan sold his Nissan car, with its VIP number plate, for Rs 20

lakh. Next his Rolex watch was sold for Rs 5 lakh. Third, his Hyundai

Sonata and Ford Endeavour SUV were sold for Rs 10 lakh each.

Natarajan was still Rs 5 lakh short, and resorted to theatrics. He

called an NRI businessman in Dubai and demanded a donation of Rs

5 lakh ² which was duly given.

Financial resources, political clout, community mobilisation, the

Eelam card (indicating an obvious synergy with the DMK): Natarajan

was sending multiple signals in Thanjavur that day. The question is,

has he worried Jayalalithaa at all?

J eemon J acob is Bureau C hief, South with Tehelka.

the taming of the shrewd

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