Chennai: Once media shy, ministers now turn friendly with scribes and also return phone calls. Post Jayalalithaa, there are several visible changes. For instance, the historical Ripon Buildings housing the city mayor's office is now a new hangout for state ministers. On Thursday, five ministers visited the heritage buildings, three of them took part in a review meeting and others left after garlanding the statue of PT Thyagaraya on his 166th birth anniversary. Jayalalithaa's media shy ministers are now taking turns posing for cameras and are ready for press briefings.
Senior leader and education minister C. Sengottaiyan silent for many years is now an active politician. On Thursday, he also met the press and said that the merger talks between the team EPS and OPS are underway. “Earlier only local administration ministers would visit the Ripon Buildings and their participation would restrict to major review meetings, but post-Jayalalithaa's death, ministers are frequenting the heritage building,” a corporation official said. It may be noted that former mayor Saidai S. Duraisamy would often request photojournalists not to click pictures of him during regular administrative meetings and reviews, fearing that publicity would lead to a backlash from his political boss at Poes Garden. This phenomenon is now a thing of the past, the official explained.
However, it's nothing wrong in MLAs and ministers attending the review meetings, but there are no memories of ministers attending the corporation review meetings when Ms Jayalalithaa was alive. Two months back, minister for electricity P. Thangamani also chaired a meeting at corporation headquarters, the official recalled. “The absence of an elected council without a mayor had created a vacuum in Chennai political circles. And now there is no Amma (Jayalalithaa) to question, so the ministers want to be in the limelight. Any politician likes to be in the limelight seeking the attention of the public and media. If Amma was alive, these ministers will not dare to participate in TV debates and address back to back press conferences”, said a former AIADMK MLA from Chennai.
Earlier in the day, finance minister D. Jayakumar and rural industries minister P. Benjamin attended the review meeting on civic projects taken up by the corporation. The meeting discussed the cyclone Vardah and its impact, the measures that have to be taken in T Nagar under the smart city project, restoration of corporation parks and the installation of about one lakh street lights with LED bulbs, sources said.
