CHENNAI: Amid controversy that a person with right-wing ties was appointed as the CEO of the government-run educational channel, Kalvi TV, a Twitter trend asking School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi to resign takes over the top spot on the social media platform.
As of late Tuesday, #Resign_AnbilMahesh was trending with more than 17,000 tweets. The issue started after the appointment of Manikanda Boopathi as the CEO of Kalvi TV a few days ago. Boopathi has worked in Dinamalar, Thanthi TV, headed the Puthiya Thalaimurai’s web team and co-founded Chanakyaa TV, a social media news platform, along with Rangaraj Pandey. Netizens alleged that Boopathi had right-wing leanings and that it was an attempt at saffronising the education system in the State.
Talking to the media on Monday about the issue, Poyyamozhi defended the appointment by saying that a person should be judged based only on his work. “I have the contact of Rangaraj Pandey on my WhatsApp. That doesn’t mean I agree with the right-wing ideology,” said the minister. He also came under criticism for being the president of the Chepauk MLA Udhyanidhi Stalin Fans Club.
Following the outrage on social media, Dharmapuri MP S Senthilkumar tweeted, “The Strongest supporter and the harshest critic of the DMK party/government are its humble #DMK_cadres. They are an asset to the party. They will not let the party compromise/deviate in its ideologies or principles.”
DMK’s IT wing secretary MLA TRB Rajaa also asked the DMK cadre to keep calm as the CM would take the best decision. “Even though powers that had slowly infiltrated against the principle of social justice show their head here and there at times, they will be identified and weeded out. CM is a person who thinks like the cadre. Keep calm. CM knows best,” he said in a tweet.
While it was reportedly said that the appointment of Manikanda Boopathi has been kept on hold, there was no official statement from the School Education Department.