As Jaya remains in hospital, which other party leaders could help run Tamil Nadu?

The undisputed leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has been indisposed since September 22. J Jayalalithaa is on respiratory support, the hospital has said. A specialist from the United Kingdom was flown into Chennai last week to examine her. On Thursday, a team of three specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi joined the medical team treating the chief minister at the Apollo hospital in Chennai.

The Opposition has already raised questions about who is running the administration in Jayalalithaa's absence. Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam leader Vijayakant has asked for an interim chief minister to be appointed, to ensure proper governance. On Friday, Bharatiya Janata Party politician Subramanian Swamy urged that President’s Rule be imposed in Tamil Nadu, claiming that Jayalalithaa’s "indefinite hospitalisation" has caused “administrative disarray” in the state,

While there was nothing official to suggest that Jayalalithaa is critically ill, the long stay at the hospital has dawn attention to the AIADMK's secondary leadership structure (or lack of it), should others need to step in to help make decisions.

Party without 'number two'

Since becoming party leader in 1989, Jayalalithaa has held it in an iron grip over the party – with huge consequences for the AIADMK. One by one, senior leaders from the time of MG Ramachandran, the party's founder, have been pushed out or sidelined due to differences. The party has evolved into a one-woman show with no credible second-rung leadership.

Writer and political commentator Azhi Senthilnathan said the most revered person after Jayalalithaa in the AIADMK circle was her friend V Sasikala.

"Given her proximity to Jayalalithaa, she has the image of being very powerful," the writer added. Over the years, various media reports have suggested that Sasikala's family exercises a great deal of clout in party decisions.

Among Sasikala's advantages is her community background. She is from the Thevar community, currently considered one of the two strongest blocs in the AIADMK along with the Gounders, Senthilnathan said .

But Sasikala and her family do not have a positive public image. She is a co-accused in the disproportionate assets case involving Jayalalithaa, which is currently pending before the Supreme Court for judgment. "The best way would be to control the party from the background, which is what I think Sasikala would probably do if she decides to take over," he added.

O Panneerselvam, who is currently the finance minister, looks the most prominent to take over in the interim if the need should arise. He served as chief minister for brief periods in 2001 and 2014 when Jayalalithaa had to step down due to corruption cases. On both instances, he had avoided controversy and had taken every one along.

But Dravidian parties have always been personality-driven and bank on the image of the leader. OPS, as Panneerselvam is popularly called, does not have a mass appeal. "Actually no one other than Jayalalithaa has," said Sampath Kumar, former BBC correspondent and professor at the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai. "But he seems the most natural choice in the interim."

The old guard

Sampath Kumar said former ministers C Ponnaiyan and Panruti S Ramanchandran could also be candidates.

Ramachandran is known to have a mind of his own and was a senior minister in the MGR Cabinet. Later, it was he who helped Vijayakant build the DMDK into a formidable opposition in 2005. He quit the party in 2013 after differences with Vijayakant's family and went back to the AIADMK the next year. Ponnaiyan, a former finance minister, has been sidelined for a long time. Both Ramachandran and Ponnaiyan lost the 2016 Assembly elections.

Another confidante of Jayalalithaa is Lok Sabha deputy speaker M Thambidurai. Though he is the pointsman in New Delhi, Thambidurai plays an important role in aspects such as negotiations for electoral alliances. He has remained in the good books of Jayalalithaa for decades and was even made a Union minister in 1998.

Another minister who has gained prominence over the last three years is Edapadi K Palanisamy, who holds the important Public Works Department portfolio. Palanisamy has been part of the "team of four" in the AIADMK for a long time. This team, which took care of all important party work, also included Panneerselvam, R Vaithilingam and Natham R Viswanathan.

After searches by the Income Tax Department at his residence last month, Viswanathan was removed from all party positions. Vaithilingam is now a Rajya Sabha Member. This leaves Palanisamy the only one apart from Pannerselvam in Jayalalithaa's trusted circle at the state level. The man belongs to the Gounder community and accompanied Panneerselvam on Friday to meet the Governor.

For now, it is widely believed that Sheela Balakrishnan, a former IAS officer, is helping the ailing chief minister take decisions.