Secretariat is buzzing with word about an imminent cabinet re-shuffle today or tomorrow. Amma has decided to show the door to some and invite some to the cabinet. Those who are likely to lose their job are K.T.Pachamal, Minister for Forest, Jayapal, Minister for Fisheries, Senthil Balaji, Minister for Transport, Gokula Indira, Minister for Tourism, K.V.Ramalingam, Minister for PWD, Dr.Vijay, Minister for Health and Chinnaiah, Minister for Animal Husbandry.
Those who are likely to be inducted in the cabinet are old horse Nainar Naghendran, Salem Vekatachalam, Kuppan and Nanchil Murugesan. Sources add that Senthamizhan who lost his ministership recently may also be given a second chance.
The MIDAS Touch
AIADMK and the DMK...they are politically arch rivals...but when it comes to business...money seems to unite these strange bedfellows. This is an unwritten rule in Tamil Nadu politics...one such business entity that has always flourished in Tamil Nadu is Midas Golden Distilleries Limited and people connected with it.
Midas Golden Distilleries Limited... This firm has now become the largest supplier of alcohol to the state run TASMAC. It's no wonder that the total share of Midas distilleries to the TASMAC has gone up to 38% after AIADMK came to power...as everyone is aware of the powerful people behind MIDAS. One among them is Mohan, who is the all-in-all of the Midas golden distilleries...at present he is one of the crucial power centers in the state administration according to AIADMK insiders. People who want to curry favours in the government rally around Midas Mohan say sources.
Whispers doing rounds in the business circles is that Midas Mohan's son Sanjay has recently acquired a contract to dispose of the scrap from Hyundai Car Manufacturers, which according to business sources is a very lucrative order.
Curiously the contract of Sanjay is being executed along with a DMK bigwig. Sanjay’s business partner in the scrap business is S.K.Mani who is a close confidant of Udhayanidhi Stalin, the son of DMK’s heir apparent M.K.Stalin. DMK insiders say Mani is a very close acquaintance of Stalin’s daughter Senthamarai, son-in-law Sabarish and Stalin’s wife Durga. He is often seen spending hours together in their household is the information in power corridors.
Despite such close connections to the first family of the DMK...Mohan has allowed his son to enter into this lucrative business deal...this seems to have disappointed many in the AIADMK camp because Mohan is portraying an image who only advances interests of the ruling AIADMK government. Sources in the AIADMK roughly estimate that personal assets of Mohan, who is popularly known as Midas Mohan alone would be around Rs.400 crores.
But unperturbed by tongues wagging, Mohan is carrying on with his business merrily with the active backing of ‘Chinnamma’. Even during the DMK regime, the fortune graph of Midas Distilleries only kept rising. With its steady growth, thanks to the DMK regime’s orders from TASMAC, Midas Distilleries has now become a formidable player in the field giving strong completion to United Breweries, Shaw Wallace, Empee Distilleries, etc.
In fact, sources in TASMAC administration say, to popularize the brands of Midas, officials are instructed to load the retail outlets with more Midas brands.
