Chennai/Bangalore:
J Jayalalithaa is back in a Bangalore trial court which is recording her statement in connection with a Rs 66-crore disproportionate assets case against her. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister answered 379 questions in court yesterday, and is expected to answer another 300 today.
Ms Jayalalithaa had chosen to fly back home to Chennai last evening when it became clear that court proceedings would spill over to Friday. The case being heard dates back to 1996 and Thursday was the first time that Ms Jayalalithaa appeared before this trial court.
Sources say Ms Jayalalithaa is in a better frame of mind today than she was yesterday - back home her party, the AIADMK, is leading in a local body election. The CM is also traveling lighter today. Only two ministers have accompanied her to Bangalore. The rest of the large contingent that was in the city yesterday, has returned to Chennai.
(In Pics: Jayalalithaa's political journey) All the bustle is in Bangalore, where yesterday's elaborate security arrangement for Ms Jayalalithaa is in place today too. The 65-km route from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport to the special court opposite Bangalore's Central Jail has been cleared. Like yesterday too, National Security Guard commandos and 1,500 police personnel from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are on duty for her visit.
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In Chennai, there has been an air of desolation at the AIADMK headquarters. No party leader visited the office on Thursday, even though the result of a local election had given the AIADMK reason to cheer. The party won the Trichy West Assembly by-election, but the customary celebration was missing. Curiously, even the large television that AIADMK cadres watch Jaya TV on was missing. As though Amma had carried all life away with her to Karnataka.
A party worker at the deserted office said bravely, "We are sad. But already Amma has won in 12 of the 13 cases foisted against her. She will win this too."
In the DMK camp, there is an air of anticipation. DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi is keeping a close eye on happenings in Bangalore. It was his government that took Ms Jayalalithaa to court as it came to power in 1996, accusing her of amassing assets worth Rs 66 crores disproportionate to her knows sources of income, by misusing her term in office from 1991 to 1996. The case was transferred from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka in 2003 after the DMK said a free and fair trial was unlikely in her own state. Ms Jayalalithaa has dismissed the charges against her as political vendetta.
(What is the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa?)The contrast is telling in television coverage of Ms Jayalalithaa's appearance in court. The DMK's family-owned Sun TV gave a blow-by-blow account of what was happening in Bangalore yesterday; the pro-AIADMK channel Jaya TV chose to ignore it entirely.
As a reluctant Ms Jayalalithaa was forced to appear in court yesterday, Mr Karunanidhi seemed pleased that his party's case against the Chief Minister was delivering political dividends. "Jayalalithaa has bowed to justice," he said. However, he said "I will not seek her resignation. It's her habit."
In the last few weeks, Ms Jayalalithaa asked the Supreme Court twice to exempt her from a personal appearance in court. She said the Karnataka government had not made enough security arrangements for her visit, and that the airport was too far from the court. Both reasons were rejected by the Supreme Court.
Among the assets under scrutiny in the case are farm houses and bungalows in Chennai; vast tracts of agricultural land in Tamil Nadu; a farm house in Hyderabad; a tea estate in the Nilgiris; jewelry worth crores of rupees; industrial sheds; cash in banks and investments; and a fleet of luxury cars.