Illustrations

Tiruvarur district set to give Tamil Nadu its second CM.

 People of Tiruvarur district were elated on Sunday, not just because of V K Sasikala’s election by the AIADMK as its new chief minister. They were beaming as their district has the unique distinction of producing two chief ministers.

For, M Karunanidhi, former chief minister from the rival DMK party, also hails from the same district.
Sasikala, who is just a few days away from occupying the chief minister’s seat, was born in Thiruthuraipoondi located deep in the Cauvery delta region.

A marriage hall named after Sasikala’s father Vivekanadan now stands at Chetty Street on the land of her ancestral house. Not from a very wealthy family, Vivekanadan had worked as an assistant to a doctor in the town then.

“We are glad to have a chief minister hailing for our home town. After Karunanidhi, our district is now giving a second Chief Minister  to the State,” says R S Subramanian, 59, who lives in Hospital Street at Thiruthuraippoondi. Like him, most others expect that Sasikala’s elevation would translate into a special focus by the government machinery on the district. “She should also come here once after the swearing-in ceremony and address people in her home town,” he says.

There are some diehard Jayalalithaa loyalists who can’t imagine anyone else taking her place. Like A Meenakshi, who says, “I voted only for Jayalalithaa.” But most others see in Sasikala a hope for the predominantly agrarian district caught in the difficult times of drought.

M Murugadoss, who is running a local TV channel in the town, says, “I believe she will do some good things for her home town.”

Mannargudi is the place where Sasikala moved to after her marriage with Natarajan. And this is also the town more often associated with her than her birth place. People in Mannargudi too were happy that a person from their town was occupying the top post, assuming as they did that it could only mean good for them.

Mannargudi M Ambigapathy, ex-MLA who represented the Assembly segment twice for the CPI, says, “The people of Mannargudi are happy with the election of Sasikala as the legislative party leader of the AIADMK. Sasikala was close to Jayalalithaa for over 35 years and she had learnt political skills from her. The AIADMK cadre in the town burst crackers on the elevation of Sasikala whose brother Divakaran lives in the town,” he adds.

Dr C Ashok Kumar, who has been practising for over 40 years in Mannargudi, says, “as a resident of the town I welcome the elevation of Sasikala who has roots in this town.”