Those travelling along the Kamarajar Salai on Sunday might have been amused by the sight of a host of State Ministers, including B. Valarmathi and Chennai Mayor Saidai Duraisamy, paying floral tributes to Kannagi.
Kannagi of Silappathikaram fame is seen as a symbol of Tamil womanhood, righteousness, valour and Tamils’ zest for justice. In December 2001, the statue was removed from the place where it stands now and dumped in a corner of the Egmore museum till the end of the previous AIADMK regime.
While the DMK president M. Karunanidhi alleged that the statue was removed on the advice of astrologers, government officials insisted that the statue was removed because its pedestal was damaged. Not many believed the official theory though. When Mr. Karunanidhi returned to power in 2006, he reinstalled the statue. It was a personal issue for him as he, as PWD Minister in the C.N. Annadurai Cabinet, was in-charge of selection of statues for installation along the Marina in 1968. Kannagi was the only mythical character to find a slot on the stretch.
On Sunday, the Chitra Pournami day when Kannagi is worshipped in the only temple for her located on the Tamil Nadu–Kerala border near Cumbum, State Ministers, who have been performing poojas and praying in various temples since last September, offered floral tributes.
While MDMK general secretary Vaiko is criss-crossing the State fighting for the rights of various affected people, his now estranged friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks he is too emotional and lacks perspective.
When the Opposition in the State, rallying behind DMDK leader Vijayakant met the Prime Minister to find solution to the various problems facing people here, Mr. Modi made a few comments on BJP’s former ally and MDMK leader Vaiko.
“He is a person who is too emotional,” Modi told the gathering. “The Prime Minister said that Mr. Vaiko does not try to understand the issues in proper perspective,” a delegation member said.
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Whether it is Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi or Tamilisai Soundararajan in Chennai, doctors who turn into politicians try their best to stay in touch with their original profession and put their skills to use whenever they can.
So, it was no surprise that when a Gujarati couple needed help on an Air India flight, Anbumani Ramadoss of the PMK decided to put on his doctor’s hat.
Last week, as the flight from New Delhi to Chennai was about to take off, a middle-aged man from Gujarat began complaining of nausea. Given that there was hardly any time for the take-off, Mr. Anbumani offered to examine the patient himself following a request from the crew. It turned out that the man had no serious issues apart from an anxiety attack.
“I checked his BP and found it to be normal. I just wanted to ensure it was not a heart attack. I then prescribed an anti-anxiety drug, which they had,” said the former Union Health Minister. But even Mr. Anbumani could not stop the flight from getting delayed by 45 minutes and was forced to fill up exhaustive forms since he treated the patient on board.
(Reporting by B. Aravind Kumar and Sruthisagar Yamunan)
The article has been corrected for a factual error.
