It's a running joke even among his own followers: "While all chief ministers in India run a government from the secretariat, chief minister N Rangaswamy runs it from Heaven.”
Charismatic leader Rangaswamy is known to not to take any decision without the approval of his guru. Fair enough. Except that his guru Appa Paithiyam Swamy is dead and the chief minister gets his advice from beyond the boundaries of the mortal world. Sometimes these signs take time in coming. Which is is why the 65-year-old master strategist is yet to finalise his poll alliance for the Assembly election in the tiny union territory to be held on May 16.
Rangaswamy is highly devout by nature, says a report in 'The Hindu', and has always turned to the Siddha saint for inspiration in times of political or personal crises.The story goes that he turned a die-hard devotee of the seer after his defeat ion the first elections he contested in 1990. For a while he seriously considered quitting politics. But Appa Paithyam Swamy advised him to remain active in politics, and even predicted he would become a chief minister.
Rangaswamy became chief minister in 2001 and has been in power for over a decade across three elections. After the Congress high command removed him as chief minister in 2008, Rangaswamy formed his own party, All India N Rangaswamy Congress, or AINRC, to take revenge on his former party in 2011. He forged an alliance with the AIADMK and won 15 of the 17 seats his party contested. After the results he broke away from the alliance to form a government on his own. Jayalalithaa did not forget his “betrayal” and has fielded her candidates in all 30 seats this time.
The motorbike-riding, bachelor Rangaswamy could easily be the most accessible chief minister. He has a sharp political brain and is good at political maneuvering. His rivals call him an autocratic leader who doesn't believe in team work. They also accuse him of brazen favouritism and corruption. Rangaswamy dismisses these allegations as a case of sour grapes.
Puducherry may have the smallest Assembly in India. But campaigning is not an easy job as its four enclaves are spread across peninsular India. Two enclaves of this former French colony – Puducherry and Karaikal- are along the Tamil Nadu coast, Mahe along Kerala coast and Yanam along the Andhra Pradesh coast. The distance from one enclave to another is in hundreds of kilometres.
Things not looking good for Rangaswamy this time. Voters are not happy with his administration and are expressing their desire for a change. His my-way-or-highway attitude has also upset some of his own loyalists.
According to a C-Voter pre-poll survey, his party is going to lose the election. It predicts that AINRC will get just 7 seats and the DMK-Congress alliance, 17 seats. The AIADMK is likely to get just 1 seat, and the others may win 5 seats. As projected by C-Voter the vote shares of AINRC has reduced from 31.8% in 2011 to 24.8% in 2014. AIADMK’s vote share will be reduced to 11.8% from 13.6%.
But, Rangaswamy hopes the powers in Heaven will save him this time too.
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