1989: Landmark polls that saw the emergence of Jaya

CHENNAI: The 1989 parliamentary elections was the first major electoral victory for J Jayalalithaa, marking her emergence as a leader of indomitable spirit in the State.Facing the first election under her leadership, AIADMK, in alliance with Congress, wiped out the rival DMK which could not win even a single seat. This was despite DMK winning the Assembly polls hardly a few months earlier and its leader M Karunanidhi returning as Chief Minister after  13 years.

Since the 1984 elections, much had changed in Tamil Nadu. AIADMK’s founder MG Ramachandran died due to illness in December 1987. His wife Janaki Ramachandran took charge as first woman Chief Minister, but her government subsequently collapsed due to a split in the party. The party’s ‘two leaves’ symbol was frozen by the Election Commission because of the dispute between two splinter groups. In the polls for the Assembly in January 1989, opposition DMK registered a sweeping victory. Realising there is no way ahead to redeem the party, Janaki Ramachandran gave up the fight, allowing Jayalalithaa to take reins of the party since her splinter group won 27 seats compared to Janaki camp getting a lone seat.

At the national-level, Rajiv Gandhi had completed five years as country’s Prime Minister. But, he was facing much heat over the Bofors scandal and his critic VP Singh, who resigned as a minister from Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet, formed a rainbow alliance by joining hands with several regional parties such as DMK and Telugu Desam Party. Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress was facing a tough challenge everywhere, except in Tamil Nadu.

Jayalalithaa formed an alliance with Congress for the parliamentary polls. Karunanidhi’s DMK was part of the National Front led by VP Singh’s Janata Dal. Jayalalithaa’s main poll plank was  a stable government at the Centre. But what in a way helped was the disgraceful treatment meted out to her at the hands of DMK MLAs in the Assembly in March earlier that year.

When the election results were out, it was a total surprise. AIADMK-Congress alliance won 38 of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and DMK lost all the seats it contested, except for its ally CPI winning one seat in Nagapattinam. But, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were the only States Congress was successful in the wake of tough questions raised over the Bofors scandal. The party had only 197 MPs and could not form a government.

The election also marked the emergence of the BJP as an important player in national politics. The party had its best ever performance by winning 85 MP seats. Though the VP Singh-led National Front won only 143 seats, it formed the government at the Centre with the support of BJP and Left parties. DMK, though had no MPs, was given a berth in VP Singh’s cabinet, and Murasoli Maran became the first union minister from DMK.

‘Stable govt’

For the 1989 parliamentary elections, Jayalalithaa’s main poll plank was  a stable government at the Centre. But what in a way helped was the disgraceful treatment meted out by DMK MLAs in the Assembly