Tamil Nadu - ‘Modi’s land, his people’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s love for the Tamil language and the state can be gauged from his speeches. After becoming the PM, he has never missed an opportunity to praise the richness of the language. Imagine Modi as a Tamilian. You read it right. During the “En Mann En Makkal” in Virudhunagar, BJP state president K Annamalai claimed that PM Modi was a Tamilian in a previous birth. These statements of Annamalai sparked chuckles among other party cadre. Annamalai then said Modi’s love for Tamil Nadu is unparalleled. Whenever there is an issue in the state, he wants to rectify it at the earliest. When a functionary from Karnataka asked why the PM keeps talking about Tamils and Thiruvalluvar, Annamalai reiterated the fact that Modi was a Tamilian by heart.
Lanjam ready! Rasidhu ready ya?
For years, we Indians, have lived with corruption at different levels. Nothing gets done if we are not ready to pay a bribe to the babus. From getting a driving license, power connection, water connection or any other document that needs approval one is forced to pay a bribe. If one did not pay the money demanded, the approval never comes or takes years to do so. To create awareness against this practice, an elderly man who attended the grievance meeting in Vellore openly offered bribes to the officials. How so? He donned a placard on his neck, bearing the message: “Lanjam Ready! Rasidhu Ready ya?” (Bribe is ready. Is the receipt ready?). He wandered within the premises of the collectorate along with the placard until the grievances meeting got over. When asked, he said he was attempting to raise awareness against corruption.
‘Silence’ of the IT minister
IT minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan has said his previous portfolio of finance and human resources development had required him to talk frequently to explain things about various government policies and functions. And also held the role of IT wing secretary and was a member of the DMK propaganda team. Now, he could speak only about his current portfolio which is the IT department. He stated that if asked anything relevant to the IT and digital services department he would respond.
United by caste, divided by politics
Caste conflicts have occurred off and on in different parts of the state over the years. The demolition of a portion of the house of a man from Vannar community in the Kongu belt recently grabbed headlines. Why? The accused, a paddy trader, had allegedly colluded with Kangayam town council - chairman Suriya Prakash and former MLA NSN Natraj, to damage the house. All three were booked by the police. What shocked activists and political observers is the fact that these two men belonged to different parties. A local activist pointed out, Kangayam town council chairman Suriya Prakash belongs to DMK, while former MLA NSN Natraj belongs to the AIADMK. More importantly, both of them belong to the same caste which is the dominant caste in the Kongu belt. When it comes to caste and community, they join hands regardless of the party, said the activists.
Bumpy road ahead for helmet rule
To reduce road fatalities, the Coimbatore city police had made wearing helmets mandatory for pillion riders as well from June. This did not go down well with the motorists who claimed that most accidents were happening due to bad roads and not due to poor driving. If the roads are repaired, fatalities would come down on their own they said and urged the administration to do so. The police also found it difficult to enforce the law and relaxed the law. The police officers who are involved in vehicle checks are unofficially advised to leave bikes if there is a woman, children, and elderly people riding pillion without helmets. Now they only target youngsters if they are found without helmets.
(Contributed by Harini M, Praveena S A, M S Thanaraj, Saravanan MP, R Kirubakaran; Compiled by Ashok Subramaniam V )