Coronavirus emergency in Tamil Nadu: A time when even political arch rivals united

Tamil Nadu detected its first case on 7^th March 2020. The cases started increasing dramatically in April and May. They peaked in August with nearly 6,000 cases a day. From 11^th October, the cases started dramatically falling.

In the middle of February 2021, number of confirmed cases was not even 500 a day. Then in the middle of March, the cases again started increasing dramatically. They crossed 1,000 on 19^th March; 10,000 on 18^th April and 25,000 on 7^th May.

The government was led by chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami, who was the co-coordinator of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

During the first wave, DMK leaders had strongly criticised the AIADMK government in handling the pandemic. They claimed that the situation was far worse than the government made it out to be. Apart from that, they kept claiming that the government was doing the wrong things and opposed many of its moves. AIADMK claimed that the situation was bad everywhere. Its leaders said that DMK was just trying to find fault and point out whatever went wrong instead of working with the government . One of the major differences the parties had was on the lockdown. There were times when the AIADMK government relaxed the lockdown restrictions for economic activities, and DMK claimed that the virus was going to spread faster. There were times when the government ordered a stricter lockdown to contain the spread of the virus and DMK claimed that it was very bad for the economy.

Edappadi Palaniswami is being careless. His arrogant behaviour has resulted in cases increasing. Neither does he listen to what I have to say, nor does he listen to anyone else... He is the sole reason for a great devastation. I now have only one suggestion to give the Chief Minister. After controlling the virus give yourself credit and not while it's still prevalent. –M. K. Stalin

M. K. Stalin is not worried about the people. He is concerned more about proving his political relevance, which is the reason behind the untrue statements he has issued in the recent past. Be it Maharashtra, Delhi or West Bengal, nowhere has any Opposition leader tried to gain political capital using the pandemic. It is only in Tamil Nadu that Mr. Stalin is doing so, as he has no constructive suggestions to offer. He has been talking as if only Tamil Nadu has been affected and the AIADMK government has failed… – Edappadi Palaniswami

Elections to the legislative assembly were held on 6^th April 2021, and results were to be out on 2nd May.

In the end of April 2021, a few weeks before the election results, Stalin said that the lockdown by the AIADMK government during the first wave affected people and businesses. He hinted that he would not impose a total lockdown once he came to power, and urged the care-taker AIADMK government to control the spread of the virus.

During the first wave of Coronavirus, there was a total lockdown. But people and business have not come out of the blow rendered by that lockdown yet...Let us work with the confidence that there will not be total lockdown after 2 May. – M. K Stalin [Source]

Results were out on 2nd May 2021. AIADMK was voted out of power, and DMK formed the government with M. K Stalin becoming chief minister.

Many changes took place after the election

Edappadi Palaniswami accepted defeat, and said he would work with the government for the benefit of the people. M. K Stalin said that he would learn from the experience of the previous government.

What happened between the two parties, was quite different from what happened in the past. Earlier, whenever one of the parties came to power, there would be a lot of fighting between the government and the opposition. In March 2002, just after J. Jayalalithaa had become chief minister, the police went to Karunanidhi's house around midnight and arrested him.

Leaders of the two parties had not attended each others swearing-in ceremonies in the past. Palaniswami did not attend Stalin’s swearing-in ceremony. However, outgoing deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam – who is the official leader of the AIADMK – attended it.

Just hours after assuming office, Stalin announced that health insurance would cover medical expenses on Coronavirus. He also announced Rs. 4,000 for rice-card holders due to the ongoing pandemic.

On 8^th May, when the daily coronavirus cases were reaching close to 30,000, Stalin imposed a full lockdown after consulting experts.

Reshuffle of officers:

Whenever the government changes, there is always a reshuffle of the bureaucrats. Bureaucrats do not officially belong to a political party, but different politicians always have specific bureaucrats they want to work with.

When DMK was in the opposition, Stalin had once demanded the transfer of health secretary J. Radhakrishnan due to the HIV blood transfusion case.

All other major secretaries were replaced when the new DMK government was formed. However, the health secretary J. Radhakrishnan was not transferred. He had generally had a good reputation. He may or may not be the best person for the post. But apart from everything else, there is a very important reason for him not to have been replaced: He had been handling the pandemic till now, so he would be more familiar with what to do.

Assembly panel:

The assembly session could not be held for very long due to the pandemic. However, on 12^th May 2021, DMK held an all-party meet with two members from all the parties which have MLAs. They resolved to constitute a panel to discuss what measures should be taken on the coronavirus pandemic.

A panel was formed with one member from each political party having presence in the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. Former health minister Dr. C. Vijayabaskar was nominated to the panel.

DMK had strongly criticised Vijayabaskar accusing him of using the pandemic to make money. However, like Radhakrishnan, he too would have been important in decision making.

*Smaller parties which contested under DMK's Rising Sun symbol
**Small party which contested under AIADMK's Two Leaves symbol

AIADMK, on its part, did not criticise the government the way DMK did. Though the situation is much worse than it was last year, it did not claim that it had handled the pandemic better.

Why is there a sudden change in the politicians?

AIADMK did not start any major criticism, because it is a new government. If the party wants to find fault with the government, it would prefer do it closer to the elections.

As for DMK, it is likely to have become more careful of criticising AIADMK after the elections. During the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the DMK alliance had won 38 out of 39 seats with an average margin of around 2.5 lakh votes in each seat. But the results were not the same two years later. Though the AIADMK lost the election, it did not do as badly as DMK was anticipating. It got 39% vote-share to DMK’s 45%.

However, there is definitely another reason for the change in their attitudes. The politicians realise that the situation is serious. The responsibility lies on them (specially those in power) to handle the pandemic well. Since the situation is so serious, they are likely to all feel the responsibility and therefore act according to what’s best for the state.