Assembly with its BGM
The Tamil Nadu Assembly may have finally found its way into the TRP league, with proceedings telecast live and offering viewers a new show between their favourite serials. Youngsters, too, found something to scroll through, and, naturally, the memes followed. Speaker JCD Prabhakar’s rapid-fire reading of MLAs’ names was edited to look like a temple priest performing an archana, while table-thumping and walkouts were set to popular songs. There was even talk of delaying the live telecast to stop expunged remarks from doing the rounds. But the Speaker, noting the growing interest among youngsters, dropped the idea. So, from now on, political debates come up with their own BGM in the House.
Subashini Vijayakumar
The ‘Kuruvi’ connection
Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin may have been a producer in the early days of his cinema career, but social media now appears convinced he was also a prophet. In 2008, his Red Giant Movies debuted with Kuruvi, starring current CM C Joseph Vijay in a white-and-red racing suit. Eighteen years later, Vijay was seen alongside actor-turned-racer Ajith Kumar at Silverstone, with Ajith sporting a similar suit. Cue social media digging up Kuruvi and declaring the producer had seen it all coming. Udhayanidhi’s 2024 wishes to Ajith ahead of his racing stint were also seen as a message to Vijay. Now, the old cinema rivalry has seemingly morphed into a friendship, leaving fans and political rivals wondering whether Udhayanidhi’s prediction works well in politics as well.
ENS
Power house
The summer heat was bad enough, but the power situation is apparently giving the government another reason to sweat. Frequent interruptions and rising demand caught the attention of CM Vijay, who directed officials to act. Chief Secretary M Saikumar, sources said, pulled up the TNEB Chairman and told him to procure power from wherever possible. The instruction soon had an effect, with TNPDCL arranging an additional 2,000 MW through short-term purchases. With temperatures soaring and demand climbing, the state apparently decided there was little point in asking people to keep their cool while the power supply was doing quite the opposite.-S Guruvanmikanathan