For a while there was the chance that India's southern-most states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, would be run by two nonagenarians. In Tamil Nadu, 93-year-old Karunanidhi insisted that he would take the chief ministerial spot if his Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam came to power. And the most popular leader in Kerala's Left Democratic Front remains 92-year-old VS Achuthanandan. As it turns out neither will end up as chief minister – but the alternatives aren't much younger.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which led the LDF to 91 seats in the 140-strong Assembly, selected Pinarayi Vijayan as its chief minister at a state committee meeting on Friday. This means that Achuthanandan, who joined the Communist Party in 1940 – 76 years ago – will not get another turn in the chief ministerial post, a spot he occupied between 2006 and 2011.
Kerala's 72-year-old
The 92-year-old gives way to 72-year-old Vijayan, who may not be as popular with the public at large, but holds a brute majority within the party. Vijayan was the longest serving secretary of the CPI(M)'s Kerala State Committee – a post he held from 1998 to 2015.
Although his numbers can't compare with Achuthanandan, who entered politics while the British Raj was still around, Vijayan's political career also clocks in at more than half a century. He joined the Communist Party in 1964 and was first elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1970.
Despite his mass support within the party and especially among its local units, Vijayan's long political career isn't without its blemishes. The most famous of these is the SNC Lavalin scam, where as power minister, Vijayan allegedly entered into a deal with a Canadian firm for the revival of three power projects in the state in Kerala between 1995 and 1997. The man who will now be chief minister of Kerala was then accused of causing a loss of Rs 374 crore to the state.
Tamil Nadu's 68-year-old
Across the border, the people of Tamil Nadu are also getting a chief minister with a chequered past. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's victory over the DMK means the state is not going to get a 93-year-old chief minister. Instead, 68-year-old J Jayalalithaa will be the first chief minister in 30 years to be re-elected for successive terms in the state.
And she brings with her a corruption case, involving allegations of misusing the chief ministerial office to amass disproportionate assets of Rs 66.65 crore between 1991 and 1996, as well as rumours of her ill health.
Jayalalithaa joined the AIADMK in 1982 and first ran for office the following year, before being elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1984. Compared to Achuthanandan, Vijayan and Karunanidhi, she's a political novice: Her career is only three-and-a-half-decades long.
Rumours of her being unwell have persisted along with allegations that Jayalalithaa has centralised power and become inaccessible. It's unclear whether the health problems have to do with her kidneys or her liver – Jayalalithaa's office is notoriously secretive – and the rumours remain also because there is no effective No 2 in the party. If Amma is unable to function, the AIADMK itself might have a hard time holding together.
Corruption cases
One more thing binds the two chief ministers: Corruption cases coming up for trial soon.
The disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa is set to come up in the Supreme Court on June 1. She was convicted in the trial court, forcing Jayalalithaa to resign from the chief ministerial post, only to be acquitted via a Karnataka High Court order riddled with errors. The Supreme Court now wants arguments in the case against her to be concluded on June 1.
Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court is currently hearing an appeal against the acquittal of Vijayan and others in the SNC-Lavalin corruption case, based on allegations of misconduct by the prosecution.
Tamil Nadu and Kerala might have dodged the spectre of two nonagenarians in power. But that doesn't exactly mean it is getting two fresh-faced untainted leaders instead either.
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