Councillor’s better half
The husband of a councillor who gleefully intervened in every matter of the corporation's zonal office in Srirangam has been a pain in the neck for officials. Many of them wanted to set it right, but none came forward to bell the cat. Finally, when a junior official asked about this, a senior advised him that the spouse of an elected representative was also treated like an elected one. Sometimes with more powers, they say.
Lesson No.1
Senior professors, who are part of different teams formed by Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, routinely carry out inspections to ensure UGC compliance in government-aided and private colleges seeking nod for increasing seats. A private college alleged that some members, not happy with the existing Rs 5,000 bribe for each, demanded an additional Rs 1 lakh as a bribe. “This is too much,” said the management of a college.
Cinderella’s slipper
Shortly after half a dozen BJP workers were arrested for throwing a slipper at the car of State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) in Madurai, Dattatreya Hosabale, general secretary of RSS, held on an outreach programme with media editorials in Chennai. It seems the apology by Madurai’s BJP chief and his subsequent resignation hasn’t gone down well with the saffron party, which is striving to expand its base in TN. PTR’s tweet that the slipper thrown at him was safe if the 'Cinderella' who had left it wanted it back, had been the proverbial final nail.
Minister’s oversight?
DMK cadre was upset over the appointment of a new CEO at Kalvi Tholaikatchi, a TV channel of the school education department, and openly criticised the school education minister on social media, citing the candidate's alleged ideological affiliation with right-wing political parties. Sources say that the DMK’s first family was very upset following the criticism levelled against the minister. The immediate intervention of the CM prompted the minister to freeze the appointment for further inquiry. DMK cadre, however, is seemingly not content with the minister’s response.
Eye for an eye!
If a hot debate on the `freebie’ culture raged across the country last week, one must thank TN’s finance minister for providing the necessary firework on social media. But soon after PTR’s intelligent, quick repartee and soundbites found favour on social media, a video of a woman belonging to the Narikuravar community came up as a counter. The woman in the video claimed that the welfare measures promised by the chief minister were not given to them even after a year. The Chengalpattu collector immediately swung into action. Meanwhile, the DMK cadre and their IT warriors raised a stink that the right-wing party was behind the furore and alleged that the media had become a puppet. So far, it was the right-wing party’s exclusive domain to blame the Tamil media that it was swayed by the DMK. Interesting times ahead!
(Contributed by Thinakaran Rajamani, S Kumaresan, Jose K Joseph. Compiled by Sreejith PM)