Was it Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's advice that saved Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa from the Mannargudi Mafia — her erstwhile confidante Sasikala? While speculations continue on this possibility, there is a strong debate in the power circles in Chennai that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had also helped his Tamil Nadu counterpart with identifying a personal doctor or nurse and an assistant from Gujarat.
A recent report by the newsmagazine Tehelka aired speculation furiously doing the rounds in Ahmedabad and Chennai that Modi was behind a tip-off that led to the ouster of Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa's most trusted friend and confidante Sasikala from her party and home last December.
Tehelka reported that Modi, a personal friend of Jayalalithaa for over two decades, told the TN CM that Sasikala and her family, referred to as the Mannargudi Mafia (after Sasikala's village), had unprecedented interference in government affairs so much so that investors were reluctant to invest in Tamil Nadu because of the hefty commission they demanded. Jayalalithaa apparently acted on the tip-off and found disturbing evidence that Sasikala, her husband Natarajan, and their assorted relatives, had immense control over government affairs and were planning a 'palace coup'.
She acted swiftly to expel them from her party and home and also started cleansing her government and bureaucracy of Sasikala loyalists, a process that is still going on.
While there is a steely silence that greets any questions in this direction both in Chennai and Gandhinagar, a source in the intelligence department says a Gujarati nurse, believed to be deputed by Modi, reportedly even found that food and fruits the TN CM was provided with at home, were laced with sedatives. The cooks appointed by Sasikala are believed to be responsible for this. This led to another purge, this time at Jayalalithaa's home in Poes Garden, in which all personal security and household staff hired by Sasikala were sacked.
"That day onwards the chief minister takes food made and given to her under the watchful eyes of the Gujarati woman," said the source. The Tehelka report refers to Poes Garden household staff coming under suspicion, saying it was found "that she was being given sedatives and chemical substances that had small quantities of poison."
Sources say that Jayalalithaa and Modi are more in touch now than before.
There are unconfirmed reports that Mannargudi mafia is believed to have reportedly sent feelers to Modi to broker peace between them and Jayalalithaa, but reportedly, Modi flatly refused. Political observers, however, are sceptical about the reported increased closeness. While they believe this theory is being floated by the BJP for political reasons to show its influence, sources in the Gujarat BJP claim total ignorance about these developments.
"It is no secret that they are on good terms, but this kind of intimacy sounds like a fable," a source close to the CM's office said. (with Kumar Chellappan in Chennai)
