JOIN USThe Republic Day celebrations in Tamil Nadu invited criticism from various political parties, as many of the tableaux carried oversized images of former chief minister J Jayalalitha, who had to step down after being convicted in a disproportionate assets case.
Floats of various departments, including tourism, agriculture, police, health, and industry, carried huge images of Jayalalitha at the front. The public (elections) department was an exception.
The roads were also dotted with hoardings bearing her image. Incumbent Chief Minister O Panneerselvam's photographs and hoardings were conspicuous by their absence.
The crowd this time was thinner, too, due to the absence of “Amma” for the parade event at the Marina beach road in Chennai.
“The Tamil Nadu government continues to bring shame and indignity to its people. While the government in Delhi makes our country proud with a spectacular display of Indian culture and diversity, the government in Tamil Nadu showcases a convicted person,” said Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader M K Stalin. “It is sickening to watch what was once one of the leading states in India being pushed to this depth of disrepute and embarrassment,” he said in a social networking website.
“It is a shame that pictures of Jayalalitha, a convicted person, were part of the Republic day celebrations,” said the PMK, an NDA ally in the state.
Kerala guv’s address
Kerala Governor P Sathasivam on Monday called for transparency in administration and government action in tune with the common man’s “anxieties, aspirations, ambitions and apprehensions”.
He was delivering his address after a ceremonial parade at the Central Stadium during the 66th Republic Day celebrations.
The governor called for protection of the state’s ecologically fragile areas.
On his much-debated decision to form a Chancellor’s Council for universities, Sathasivam said the council was constituted with an aim to upgrade quality of higher education in universities of the state where despite long strides in higher education, it was a case of “a little done and vast undone”-.