The once prodigious state of Tamil Nadu has in the past few weeks earned a pitiable sobriquet of “Turmoil Nadu” and not without reason.  The state has been in a state of incapacitation ever since its former chief minister, the late J. Jayalithaa, was herself bedridden for multiple health problems around the same time last year. From then on, TN has been limping from one crisis to another. If it was uncertainty over Jayalalithaa’s survival for few months since September, it was the crisis of her death in December followed by the now done and dusted Jallikattu controversy in January.

When one thought that things will settle down after that, the “Amma” of all leadership wrangles ensued resulting in the unceremonious exit of O.Panneerselvam (OPS) as chief minister. The subsequent sentencing of VK Sasikala, the 24 into 7 resort drama that followed and the many heart-to-heart discussions various leaders had with the soul of Jayalalithaa at her samadhi consumed the state for few more weeks till Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) was installed as chief minister. When one thought that the worst for the state was over, then came the cancellation of the bye-elections to R K Nagar constituency following brazen distribution of cash even at the peak of demonetization.

For political parties, fishing in troubled waters comes easily. The BJP at the Centre has been no exception to fishing in TN’s muddled waters. With the spectre of a drought looming large, these fishing expeditions so far have not yielded results. Yet, it has not stopped the BJP from trying. Throwing the hat into the circus ring or rather posturing to throw have been two ageing star actors – Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, who of late have found the voice to raise against the not-so-new ills of TN. As I write this, it is yet uncertain if these will remain dress rehearsals sans a final stage performance! In the meantime, there has been coming together of the OPS and EPS camps while isolating the Mannargudi camp which has been camping in one of the resorts in Pondicherry. Or maybe Coorg. Or is it Kerala?  With the judiciary intervening almost on a daily basis on conducting a floor test, on disqualification of the defectors and generally everything, one can be certain that the state is in a coma and governance in suspended animation!

The Tamil Nadu I grew up in was not like this. Even today, in spite of the lack of any meaningful governance, the state does still rank high on many social indices. But this is living on past glory and milking the once healthy cow.  The seeds for today’s rot have been systematically sown by the two Dravida parties that have been governing the state alternatively since the death of MGR. To be fair, until the beginning of this century, things were not bad.  Almost 10 years ago, a foreign visitor after visiting few states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, the then Andhra Pradesh, and, in the end, TN asked me why things were looking better in TN compared to the other states? And like all Indians who never say “I don’t know” to any subject on the earth, I gave my own theory which was that TN was the only state, where the economy was balanced between agriculture (rice), manufacturing (auto, textiles and small machinery) and services (SW). Unlike other states even when growing well, the growth was not balanced between the sectors and, hence, created its own problems. For example, Karnataka had a high share of services and less of manufacturing while Punjab had a high share of agriculture and industry but less of services. But if I look at the statistics today, this is indeed the case for TN and this has certainly ensured a very equitable growth in the state and no other state comes close to this balance.

Again, what TN is today is a result of some foresighted thinking in the Seventies and the Eighties by the then governments. In the last decade or so, the state has been drifting away. While TN has been sleeping and slipping, the other states have been catching up. And this catching up has happened mainly due to some strong political leadership in each of these states. The neigbouring state of Andhra Pradesh, ever since the bifurcation, has seen some frenzied action. Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are competing fiercely today to garner investment. And in the age of competitive federalism, one state’s gain is another state’s loss. When Kia Motors (a subsidiary of Hyundai Motors) decided to set up a new manufacturing facility they opted for Penukonda (Anantapur) in Andhra Pradesh. It is heard that the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu took a personal effort in bagging the project in his state and ensuring painless and swift land acquisition. In his weekly Swaminomics column, Swaminathan Aiyar once hailed the AP model of land acquisition for developing the capital city of Amaravati as an ideal model for other states to follow. He wrote, “Other states must study Naidu’s example, and adapt pooling for their own use.”

In Telangana, K T Rama Rao, its IT minister and son of the chief minister, has been in the forefront of attracting investments in the IT sector. In my own resident state Maharashtra, the young and dynamic chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is focused on making Maharashtra the most sought after destination for manufacturing again. And he already has a few early wins. Among his other plans are big bang infrastructure projects like Mumbai –Nagpur Expressway. In Rajasthan, its chief minister Vasundhara Raje has been the flagbearer for labour reforms for the entire country.

In the midst of such action, what has been TN up to?  Plunged in a serious leadership crisis ever since Jayalalithaa went to jail in 2014, TN has been just a torchbearer for sycophancy-saddled between MGR/Amma anachronisms on the one hand and OPS/EPS/TTV acronyms on the other. So, for “Turmoil” Nadu to regain its past glory and become a “Thalai” Nadu (Prime State) once again, its needs a Naidu like leader! ASAP. No, as of yesterday!