A Tale Of Two States: Tamil Nadu And Kerala

In an interesting move, Tamil Nadu CM Vijay appointed his astrologer Radhan Pandit Vettrivel as his OSD. The appointment reveals Vijay’s dependence on Pandit; it also shows how he values his advice—from the black tilak on brow to the green ink pen he uses for signing files. Meanwhile, in Kerala, where Christians constitute about 18.4 % (Census: 2011) and where the Congress has given at least two Christian chief ministers, this time the party is battling to make a choice from Hindu community of Nairs. The party deliberately decided to project a Hindu CM to break the support base of LDF among the Hindus. The Congress-led UDF was known for a pro-Christian bias. “The days of Christian CMs are over,” says a Kerala Congress leader. Ironically, to break the tie among the three Nair choices, Sonia Gandhi has consulted veteran leader A K Antony. The buzz is Anthony has cast his weight behind popular leader V D Satheesan, even as Rahul Gandhi’s heart is with K C Venugopal. In sharp contrast, Tamil Nadu voted in a Christian CM Joseph Vijay. It is a state where the state manages by law revenues of nearly 36,000 temples and has a ministry to oversee it. What however takes the cake is when DMK leader and LoP Udhayanidhi Stalin once again said, “Sanatana must be eradicated.” This time inside the Tamil Nadu assembly. Udhayanidhi won’t dare to repeat this outside the House as cases are pending outside Tamil Nadu against him on this issue. But what stood out even more was that CM Vijay did not oppose the statement at all – instead, he greeted Stalin respectfully with folded hands. If Udhayanidhi had said “Christianity must be eradicated,” would Vijay have still remained silent? Guess for now, Tamil people are only bothered about Vijay’s freebies. That is if he can deliver!