It was one of those stray thoughts. The spark was the news that a chief minister had turned 60, and the first thought was hey, but he doesn't look it! So we decided to find out how old our chief ministers are and here are the findings.
Selvi Jayalalithaa (Selvi is the Tamil equivalent of Miss) she maybe, but the Tamil Nadu chief minister turned 57 in February. For collectors of trivia, her Date Of Birth is February 24, 1948.
Dharam Singh, her counterpart from Karnataka, celebrates his birthday with the Christian world. DOB: December 25, 1936. And yes, at 69 he is the oldest among the southern CMs.
N Rangaswamy, chief minister of Pondicherry, will turn 55 on August 4.
YSR, as the Andhra CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is fondly referred to, will turn 56 on July 8.
Oommen Chandy, the Kerala chief minister, is unlikely to make a song and dance on his birthday, for it's also the day Indira Gandhi was felled by assassins. DOB: October 31, 1943.
Photographs: Rediff Archives and Saab Pictures
Text: Saisuresh Sivaswamy | Coordination: Rupali Nimkar | Design: Uday Kuckian
Also read: The Jayalalithaa corruption cases