CHENNAI: A day after eight MLAs, including three former ministers, who felt sidelined met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, many more legislators called on him and the ministers hailing from their respective districts at the Secretariat to represent issues pertaining to their constituencies, on Tuesday.
Though they maintained that the meeting was about public issues, the buzz was that there was much more behind these meetings.
At least one MLA from Tirunelveli district sought a ministerial berth pointing out that for the first time there is no representation for the Nadar community in the State Cabinet.
Actor Karunas, who met V K Sasikala two days ago at Bengaluru prison, called on the chief minister at his residence to represent issues relating to his Thiruvadanai constituency. Following this, many more MLAs called on Palaniswami at the Secretariat.
Just ahead of their meeting with the chief minister, they held discussions with ministers from their districts. Along with the ministers, they then met the chief minister. For example, a minister from Madurai district led three MLAs to the Chief Minister.
Talking to Express, K S Thennarasu of Erode East said he met Palanaswami at his residence along with representatives from the textile industry regarding Goods and Services Tax (GST) on textiles. He also met three more ministers purely on constituency-related issues.
I S Inbadurai of Radhapuram said he met the chief minister particularly to speed up the Tamirabarani-Nambiyar linking project. Besides, he also requested the early dumping of groynes along sea in three coastal villages.
M Parameshwari of Manachanallur said she met School Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan for constituency issues and later met the chief minister for representing the same issue.
R Chandrasekar of Manapparai and S Gunasekaran of Tirupur South denied meeting the chief minister. They said they met other ministers on various issues regarding school upgradation. Gunasekaran said he and two other MLAs met minister Udumalai Radhakrishnan on the hosiery unit issue. The chief minister has given them an appointment for next Tuesday, he added.
Legislators try to leverage position
With the Edappadi K Palaniswami government surviving on a thin majority, party legislators appear to have become demanding. For the record, they claim it is for constituency growth.