Long Live AMMA

BBC india was fortunate enough to have "Maanbumigu Mudhal Amaichar Puratchi Thalaivi Dr. J Jayalaitha" on their HARDtalk show on Friday. And much as that irrepressible joker Karan Thapar tried to get on her nerves, our dear Amma was at her unflappable best and emerged unscathed. If ony George Bush could learn to face the camera like Amma does, then he might have actually do better than he did at the first debate :-)

Please see below transcripts of the entire HARDtalk show. Long Live Amma (I prostrate before her) - We will be back..Podunga ma vote, rettai elaiya paathu...Tiruchi 2, here i come !!

And lest i forget,
Credits: HARDtalk India and Mithun from Ohio.

KT: Hello and welcome to HARDtalk India. My guest today is the Chief Minister of India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu. Just over three years ago her party won an astonishing 80% victory in the state elections, just over three months ago her party failed to win a single seat in the National elections. How does she explain this astonishing reversal of fortune? Is the Chief Minister misunderstood or has the Chief Minister made mistakes. That in a sense is the core question that I shall put today to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalitha. Chief Minister, how do you explain that humiliating outcome in May, not a single seat for your party?

JJ: I don’t think it was a humiliating outcome at all. The results show that we have retained our vote bank. We got more than a crore of votes on our own which I think was a very good performance.

KT: But you got no seats.

JJ: Yes, but that is because we go by a simple majority system here.

KT: So the voting pattern of the country and the voting system went against you?

JJ: I would say that we retained our vote bank. There was no erosion in our vote bank. We did very well but there was a formidable alliance ranged against us.

KT: Let’s talk a little about the image the press has built up about you which many people believe has gone against you this time around. Over the last three years the press has variously described you as undemocratic, as irresponsible. They’ve even talked about you as irrational, vengeful and maybe even irresponsible. Are you misunderstood or have you made mistakes you can admit to?

JJ: I’m not irresponsible at all. That is totally removed from the truth. Yes I am misunderstood. As for all these tags that is because the media have been against me, not just for the past three years but ever since I came to politics. Perhaps it is because the whole world is a stage and everyone is acting all the time and I tend to be straight to the point. Hypocrisy is not my forte at all. That way I must say I’m a bit unconventional for a politician. The rule of the game seems to require considerable play-acting. I have acted in films before the cameras but I’m incapable of acting in real life.

KT: You mean your honesty and straight forwardness goes against you?

JJ: I’m honest. Let me be very honest with you. I prefer to play straight and I prefer speaking the truth. If I appear to be blunt, so be it. Yes, I am misunderstood and the media have a large part to play in this.

For the rest of the show transcripts, read here