Is Chennai mayor being sidelined?

For the last two weeks, ministers have chaired all relief meetings, monsoon arrangements and inspections. Even the four press conferences at the corporation headquarters saw Duraisamy being sidelined to the extreme left and ministers and officials fielding questions.

Since the deluge, ministers S. P. Velumani, B. Valarmathi and Gokula Indira have been frequenting corporation headquarters monitoring the daily rain relief work, leaving minimal legroom for Duraisamy. Notwithstanding this, the city roads are in a bad shape.

The no-nonsense commissioner Vikram Kapur who has now intensified his daily field inspections (ranging from three to five a day) seem to be waging a losing battle against the deluge.

From 1996, as an unwritten policy, in the city, the Mayor had called the shots. From DMK leader M. K. Stalin to the previous Mayor M. Subramanian, the first citizen of the city had conducted monsoon reviews and inspections. Except ribbon cutting ceremonies, local administration ministers rarely intervened in the city’s civic affairs.

The recent incident of an open brawl between north Chennai AIADMK strongman P. Vettrivel and Duraisamy’s associates also had an impact on the Mayor’s image.

According to corporation sources, bad times for Duraisamy started early this year with a few MLAs and a sitting MP petitioning the AIADMK top brass with complaints against him to settle political scores.