Credit war
Speaking at the conclusion of his padayatra in Dharmapuri recently, PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss claimed his party single-handedly made the Thoppur elevated highway project a reality. Within hours, Dharmapuri woke up to DMK’s reply — posters everywhere asking, “What was your role?”, featuring ex-MP Senthilkumar posing with ministers, engineers, and others even remotely connected to the project. As DMK took credit for the ongoing project and mocked Anbumani’s poor attendance record in Parliament, PMK cadre shot back, saying the decade-long fight shouldn’t be dismissed just because the project finally began during the DMK regime. At this rate, the posters may outnumber the pillars of the actual elevated highway.
Jevin Selwyn Henry
The Gyansplainer
For journalists wandering the wild terrain of daily reporting, salvation apparently awaits in the office of Vellore Deputy Director (Health Services) B Bharanidharan. A generous dispenser of unsolicited wisdom, he is always ready to enlighten weary reporters with his pearls of journalistic philosophy. During one attempt to obtain basic health data, he delivered this masterclass in newsroom theology, that analysing numbers was work meant for experts, and that a reporter’s work was to spread awareness and to keep things positive.
Dheepthi OJ, Nimisha S Pradeep
Man without love
In Palladam, when reporters pressed Minister for Information & Publicity MP Saminathan about Anbumani’s latest accusations against the government on various issues including the Karur stampede, he didn’t waste time with policy talk. Instead, he dropped a zinger that instantly lit up the press huddle — calling Anbumani “Anbu illatha Mani,” a man without love — and accusing the PMK leader of speaking in favour of the BJP due to pending corruption allegations against him. The crowd burst out laughing, and for a moment the political blame game turned into open-mic night.
P Srinivasan
Compiled by Adarsh TR, Dinesh Jefferson E