The state's administrative machinery has been in limbo since September 22 -- the day Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was admitted to hospital. R Rajagopalan reports on the situation.
Who is running Tamil Nadu?
It’s been almost three weeks that Tamil Nadu chief minister and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo J Jayalalithaa has been admitted to Appollo Hospital in Chennai.
And while special pujas have been conducted all over the state for her speedy recovery and with party cadres insisting that she is recovering, the question on the minds of political pundits is: Who is running Tamil Nadu?
The state administration, according to insiders, has been in limbo ever since ‘Amma’ was hospitalised. In fact, it was only on Tuesday night that portfolios held by Jayalalithaa were handed over to her trusted aide and second in command, Finance Minister O Panneerselvam.
The move came after Governor of Tamil Nadu Ch Vidyasagar Rao issued a release that Panneerselvam, who holds the administrative reforms portfolio, in addition to finance, ‘will also preside over cabinet meetings’.
The action was carried out to ensure that while the chief minister recovered from her ailment, the administrative machinery was not paralysed, and rumours are put an end to.
Flurry of visits
Following Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation on September 22, several high-ranking politicians have visited her at Apollo Hospital.
In fact, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi set the ball rolling last Friday when he flew out to Chennai right after the completion of his Uttar Pradesh kisan yatra.
The move came as a surprise to many, especially Congress ally Dravida Munnetra Kazagham, which has short-changed the Congress in seat-sharing for the local body elections that now stands cancelled following a court order.
Following Rahul, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu visited the Tamil Nadu CM on Monday, saying later, “I am confident that she will fight back and become normal and continue to serve the people of Tamil Nadu.”
Political observers consider this as a masterstroke on the part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One has to remember that with 50 MPs in Parliament, the AIADMK is the third major opposition party and naturally, the Modi-led government would not want to provoke them. Modi it was, who deputed Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, to Chennai, instructing him to stay put in the Tamil Nadu capital till things returned to normal.
R Rajagopalan, veteran journalist, is a Tamil Nadu watcher.
