CHENNAI: Chief Minister ‘Edappadi’ K Palaniswami on Sunday night left for Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior Union ministers to discuss issues relating to the State. This is his first trip to the Capital after taking over as the new chief minister.
A few senior ministers and bureaucrats are part of Palaniswami’s entourage. They will stay in Delhi for three days. “The delegation left for Delhi by a private aircraft at 7.30 pm from Chennai airport,” an official informed.
Palaniswami is scheduled to meet Modi on Monday and is expected to take up various issues, including that of exempting the State from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). Two Bills adopted unanimously in the Assembly to insulate the State from NEET are awaiting President Pranab Mukherjee’s approval.
Expediting funds for drought relief and the agrarian crisis Tamil Nadu is facing due to poor monsoon are also expected to come up for discussion.
Another issue on the agenda is funds for relief/rehabilitation at areas that bore the brunt of cyclone Vardah that struck the coasts of Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur in December last. A slew of meetings have been lined up for the three-day trip, including interactions with the Union ministers for home, power and rural development.
Sources informed that the dispute over sharing inter-State river water and attempts of neighbouring states to construct check dams across the Cauvery, Siruvani, Bhavani and Palar will also figure in the meetings.