O Panneerselvam is point of contact, Centre will talk to leader of government
Chennai: The Narendra Modi Government's point of contact in Tamil Nadu is O Panneerselvam since he is the Chief Minister, duly elected by the members of the AIADMK legislature party, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Tuesday, making it clear neither he nor his party BJP was interfering in the administration.
Electing V.K. Sasikala as the General Secretary was the “internal matter” of the AIADMK and the BJP is not interested in the affairs of the state's ruling party, Mr Naidu said. He also said it will be unfair to Mrs Sasikala, Mr Panneerselvam and the AIADMK if he responded to questions on whether the new general secretary of the party would take over as Chief Minister.
“I have nothing to do with Tamil Nadu government. I am a friend of Tamil Nadu state, and its government. I don’t know where this talk of (he running the state from behind) emanates from. I continue to be the friend of Tamil Nadu,” Mr Naidu told the “India Today South Conclave” here.
“He (OPS) is the point of contact because he is the Chief Minister. The Union Government will only talk to the leader of the government because we believe in cooperative federalism,” Mr Naidu said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi after paying tributes to late Jayalalithaa assured the Chief Minister that he was always ready to help the Tamil Nadu government.
Mr Naidu refused to answer questions on speculation about Sasikala's ascendancy to Chief Minister, saying, “Any politician with some experience or knowledge should not answer question of ifs and buts.”
“You want to make a headline, giving me a deadline but I won’t change my line," Mr Naidu said, when persisted on the clamour for Mrs Sasikala to replace Mr Panneerselvam.
The Union Urban Development Minister said the BJP sees an opportunity to expand its base in Tamil Nadu in the aftermath of the death of Jayalalithaa and hopes to come stronger in the next elections.
He also admitted that the DMK and AIADMK are the strongest parties in Tamil Nadu and many BJP supporters had voted for the AIADMK because Jayalalithaa had a nationalistic outlook.
Mr Naidu also disapproved of the comments made by former chief secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao accusing the Union Government for the I-T raids at his premises.
