Tamil Nadu : Shaping Things to Come?

With the AIADMK's victory in the Sathankulam by-election, Jayalalithaa can once again reveal - and revel in - her enduring supremacy. All the same she is not one to let grass grow under her feet and is focused on next year's parliamentary poll. But it is hardly possible for her to ruminate over the national scene now, with her plate filled with regional - rather, local - problems. There is the running battle with the DMK and the acrimonious exchanges inside the assembly, with the debate turning to past events. Outside the house too, the fury of allegations and counter-allegations continues. Events have turned strongly dramatic with the Queen Mary's College affair.