ID :
183718
Mon, 05/23/2011 - 05:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/183718
The shortlink copeid
KANIMOZHI: FALLEN POLITICIAN OR TAMIL NADU'S NEXT JOAN OF ARC
NEW DELHI (Bernama) - A special Delhi court verdict to reject high-profile South Indian politician K. Kanmozhi's plea for bail last Friday has put a damper on her illustrious political career.
The crestfallen daughter of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi appears doomed as she ponders her fate in a 10x15 ft cell in Tihar jail -- cut-off from feisty Indian politics and her only child, Adithyan, aged 11.
In Chennai, her octogenarian father vexes, unable to save his loving daughter despite all his political clout in Delhi.
Exactly a week after Kanmozhi's party, Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK), led by her father, collapsed in Tamil Nadu state polls, the 43-year-old was charged for receiving kickbacks from a mega telecom licensing fraud.
A staggering RM143 million, according to Indian investigators, was diverted to Kalaignar television channel, in which she owns a 20 per cent stake. (US$1=RM3)
Now, will the jailed Kanmozhi, a former poet-journalist-turned-politician emerge as the next 'Joan of Arc' of Tami Nadu after this debacle.
Perhaps, return to revive DMK and repeat what the newly-elected Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa did, after spending weeks in jail for misusing public funds in 1996?
"Political consequences will be greater than the jail term itself. These things don't go away easily and public perception is serious.
"Kanimozhi is being attacked from all sides, legal and family disunity. Forget about politics, she may not even recover from this case," political think-tank Development and Research Service chief G. V. L. Narasimha Rao told Bernama in a recent interview.
A legislator herself, Kanimozhi appears to be in a political quagmire, especially with DMK's powerful base badly weakened after the bruising defeat in the recent polls, where it only won about 30 out of the 234-seat legislative assembly.
Family disunity, plus the damaging scandal, were likely to cripple her political career, which flourished fast in a brief period under her father's clout, noted Rao.
But nothing is predictable in the fluid political realm, especially when regional politics is so closely intertwined with national politics, and DMK being a popular brand name in the south in recent decades.
"Putting her behind bars will not end her political career, it will only heighten her career...it's a stepping stone.
"Women leaders like Indira Gandhi and Jayalalithaa were also jailed but that did not end their careers. Like her father, she is fighting well," added Vasanthi Stanely, a DMK member of parliament.
The crestfallen daughter of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi appears doomed as she ponders her fate in a 10x15 ft cell in Tihar jail -- cut-off from feisty Indian politics and her only child, Adithyan, aged 11.
In Chennai, her octogenarian father vexes, unable to save his loving daughter despite all his political clout in Delhi.
Exactly a week after Kanmozhi's party, Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK), led by her father, collapsed in Tamil Nadu state polls, the 43-year-old was charged for receiving kickbacks from a mega telecom licensing fraud.
A staggering RM143 million, according to Indian investigators, was diverted to Kalaignar television channel, in which she owns a 20 per cent stake. (US$1=RM3)
Now, will the jailed Kanmozhi, a former poet-journalist-turned-politician emerge as the next 'Joan of Arc' of Tami Nadu after this debacle.
Perhaps, return to revive DMK and repeat what the newly-elected Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa did, after spending weeks in jail for misusing public funds in 1996?
"Political consequences will be greater than the jail term itself. These things don't go away easily and public perception is serious.
"Kanimozhi is being attacked from all sides, legal and family disunity. Forget about politics, she may not even recover from this case," political think-tank Development and Research Service chief G. V. L. Narasimha Rao told Bernama in a recent interview.
A legislator herself, Kanimozhi appears to be in a political quagmire, especially with DMK's powerful base badly weakened after the bruising defeat in the recent polls, where it only won about 30 out of the 234-seat legislative assembly.
Family disunity, plus the damaging scandal, were likely to cripple her political career, which flourished fast in a brief period under her father's clout, noted Rao.
But nothing is predictable in the fluid political realm, especially when regional politics is so closely intertwined with national politics, and DMK being a popular brand name in the south in recent decades.
"Putting her behind bars will not end her political career, it will only heighten her career...it's a stepping stone.
"Women leaders like Indira Gandhi and Jayalalithaa were also jailed but that did not end their careers. Like her father, she is fighting well," added Vasanthi Stanely, a DMK member of parliament.
