CHENNAI: The TVK government has appointed K Venkata Narayana, chairman of the KVN Group, as the Tamil Nadu government’s special representative in New Delhi.
KVN Productions is the film and entertainment arm of the group based in Bengaluru, which produced the much-awaited ‘Jana Nayagan’, CM C Joseph Vijay’s last film which has not been released over certification issues. Perhaps for the first time, a non-politician has been appointed to this significant post.
Conventionally state governments appoint an IAS officer as the resident commissioner in New Delhi for administrative purposes. But certain states, including TN, have special representatives in the national capital, a politically significant post. This time, the chairman of a private company is going to don this key role.
The special representative of the TN government in New Delhi strengthens coordination with union ministries, follows up on major infrastructure, finance and development projects, advocates the state’s position on policy matters, etc. During the past two decades, K Selvendran (DMK), A Asokan and N Thalavai Sundaram (AIADMK) and A K S Vijayan (DMK) have held the post in the national capital.
According to the KVN Group’s web portal, Venkata Narayana is chairman of the diversified KVN Group, with interests in real estate and film and entertainment. A former CEO of Prestige Group with over 25 years of leadership experience, he founded KVN Productions in 2020.
The company has distributed over 25 blockbuster films and currently has more than eight multilingual films in production featuring stars such as Yash, Vijay, Akshay Kumar and Chiranjeevi.
BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran condemned the appointment of Venkata Narayana, a person close to Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar, as the Tamil Nadu government’s special representative, saying that, amid the Mekedatu water dispute, appointing such a person to such a key post was against Tamil Nadu’s interests.
The AIADMK also criticised the appointment. In a post on X, the party questioned whether producing the CM’s film was the qualification for the post and alleged that the government’s actions, including appointing a person from Karnataka, ran contrary to Tamil Nadu’s interests.
Venkata Narayana had accompanied Vijay when he met the governor to stake a claim to form the government, drawing criticism over the producer’s presence at a key political event.
Subsequently, the appointment of Rickey Radhan Pandit Vettrivel as Officer on Special Duty to the CM (Political) was withdrawn following opposition from political parties. Jagadish Palanisamy, a long-time manager and close aide of CM Vijay, was later appointed Private Secretary to the CM (Political).
AMMK chief T T V Dhinakaran, TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai, DMK deputy general secretary A Raja, NTK leader Seeman, and many other leaders criticised the TVK government for giving such a key post to Venkata Narayana.
