It is one disappointment after another for the AIADMK government ever since the Lok Sabha election results were announced. Contesting the General Elections as part of an alliance with the PMK and BJP, the party managed to secure only one seat and had been eyeing a ministerial berth in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new Cabinet.
On Thursday, after the swearing-in ceremony, however, it became clear that the state of Tamil Nadu will have no representation in the Centre, neither from the BJP, nor from the AIADMK.
This seems to be a fallout of the rift between the O Paneerselvam and Edapadi Palainiswamy factions in the AIADMK.
First-time MP and son of Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Raveendranath Kumar and Rajya Sabha MP R Vaithilingam were in a race for a Minister of State (MoS) post, according to AIADMK sources. They were both expecting to receive phone calls from the Prime Minister’s office ahead of the swearing-in ceremony but both had told TNM that there was no communication regarding a ministerial post.
Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswami had backed Vaithilingam, arguing that he is a senior leader with more political experience. Vaithilingam used to be the state Housing Minister before the 2016 assembly election and has been elected as MLA from the Orathanad constituency in 2001, 2006 and 2011.
Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, meanwhile, saw the ministerial post as a given, considering that his son was the only AIADMK candidate to win a seat in the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu. With 5,04,813 votes, 39-year-old Raveendranath managed to gain 43.02% of the total votes in Theni constituency. Next in line with less than 8000 votes away was EVKS Elangovan from the Congress. Raveendranath, according to sources, had requested to become the Minister of State in either the Communications, Aviation or Fertilisers Ministry.
Both Raveendranath and Vaithilingam refused to comment on their prospects ahead of the ceremony.
AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP Navaneethakrishnan, however, told TNM neither MP was likely to get a seat.
“As far as I know the BJP government is not giving them any post in the ministries. This would not have been the case if Amma (former chief minister J Jayalalithaa) was there,” he said. “But whatever the ruling party is doing, it is for the nation,” he hurriedly added.
Source: The News Minute