●Assertive BJP: After L Murugan was appointed president for its Tamil Nadu unit, BJP has been making earnest efforts to gain a foothold in the State. Induction of leaders from other parties such as VP Duraisamy and Khushboo and party leaders talking about power sharing in the wake of 2021 Assembly elections are testament to the party’s growth in the State. L Murugan led Vetrivel Yatra despite the government denying nod in an effort to boost the morale of cadre
● EPS EPS emerges as AIADM K strongman: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has proved his mettle by overcoming internal rumblings and emerging as a strong leader of the party. He covered the entire State in reviewing Covid prevention measures and implementation of schemes. Reorganisation of party apparatus, strengthening of IT wing and early launch of campaign marked this year for the chief minister
● Rise of Udhayanidhi Stalin in the political arena: The DMK scion now wields enviable influence in the party after his appointment as the party’s youth wing secretary last year. The 43-year-old is seen as a future of the party by many, and party veteran 70-year-old KN Nehru receiving birthday wishes from him and proudly posting a picture of it on his social media account stands testimony to that. Also, Udhayanidhi commenced and is spearheading the party’s election campaign under the theme – Vidiyalai Nokki Stalin Kural, even though the party has a lot of senior leaders in waiting to take up election works
● Heartbreak for rajini fans: For the superstar’s followers, the year has been one of a euphoric high as well as a humiliating letdown. He announced on December 3 that he will float his political party in January 2021. However, at the peak of the hype, he released a three-page letter on December 29 announcing his decision not to enter the political arena citing health reasons. The three-decade-old debate on his political entry has finally been settled
● Digital outreach: The Covid pandemic has forced political parties to adopt digital platforms to reach out to cadre and the public. DMK has pioneered in it and conducted over a thousand virtual meetings across the State so far. Party president MK Stalin alone have addressed more than 200 of them, and party leaders MK Kanimozhi and Udhayanidhi Stalin conducted many such meetings. Others including TNCC president KS Alagiri, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan, Left parties and Dravidar Kazhagam too have adopted the virtual mode for their activities
● DMK gets its act together: While the question of CM candidate in the AIADMK-led alliance is not settled yet, it’s been a smooth ride for DMK-led alliance towards the poll battle as all in the camp have unanimously accepted MK Stalin as their CM candidate. Besides, the DMK have started campaigning and other election-related works well in advance, while its arch rival AIADMK commenced it only a week ago
● Kamal turns CM candidate: Even as Kamal Haasan is working to stitch a third front in the State, to be led by his party Makkal Needhi Maiam, ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls, he has been announced the CM candidate for the yet-to-be-formed alliance
● Bureaucrats turn politicians: In this year, a few IAS and IPS officers joined political parties, leaving behind their civil services careers. IPS officer K Annamalai joined BJP and was made one of the vice-presidents of the party’s State unit. IAS officer S Sasikanth Senthil joined Congress. V Santhosh Babu, former Information Technology Secretary of Tamil Nadu government, took voluntary retirement and joined Makkal Needhi Maiam. Senior IAS officer U Sagayam is also expected to take the political plunge, once his application for voluntary retirement is approved by the government
● State up in arms against Hindi imposition: As in the past few years, 2020 too witnessed several alleged moves to impose Hindi and Sanskrit in the State, and as usual, the political parties here vehemently opposed them. An incident of Ayush Secretary Rajedh Kotecha allegedly asking doctors from Tamil Nadu to leave a training programme when they asked him to speak in English instead of Hindi sparked widespread outrage. A recent circular by the Centre to telecast news bulletin in Sanskrit in all regional channels of Doordarshan, a union minister’s reply in Hindi to Madurai MP S Venkatesan’s letter and Amit Shah’s condolence message in Hindi for the death of Chief Minister Palaniswami’s mother were the other instances that triggered criticism. The three-language policy proposed in the National Education Policy too received opposition. The State government announced that it will not compromise on the two-language policy
Other areas
● Highest paddy yield in Kuruvai season: The year 2020 saw the highest ever paddy cultivation – in around four lakh acres in delta districts alone – during Kuruvai season after 30 years. The yield was around seven lakh metric tonnes. Bountiful rains, water release from Mettur dam, timely desilting of canals and waterways and distribution of sufficient stock of certified seeds to farmers contributed to achieving the high yield
● Bid to correct names and spellings of places: The government made an effort to correct the names and spellings of 1,018 places in the State, in accordance with how they are pronounced in Tamil. The move garnered brickbats and bouquets from various quarters as some names sounded differently. Some of the changed spellings were: Koyampuththoor (Coimbatore), Va.OO.Si. Nagar (VOC Nagar), Mayilaappoor (Mylapore), Ambaththoor (Ambattur), Saithaappettai (Saidapet) and Thooththukkudi (Tuticorin). Amid criticism, the goverment withdrew the G.O. and an expert committee has now been considering meaningful changes to the names
In a trend that was raging in Tamil Nadu for quite some time this year, youth began sporting t-shirts which read ‘Hindi theriyathu poda’ literally translated to mean ‘I don’t know Hindi, go away’ to express their outrage against Hindi imposition
● Cauvery delta becomes protected agri zone: The AIADMK government fulfilled one of the long pending dreams of farmers of delta districts – declaring the delta areas as protected agriculture zones – on February 22. In a related development, the State government cancelled the notification issued on July 19, 2017, declaring 45 villages of Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts as a long planning area for the constitution of Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR). A panel under the chief minister has been formed to carry out the purposes of this Act