Ever since the AIADMK came to power, the DMK has been pushed to a corner...without any information on the inner happenings in the corridors of power – Fort St. George. But the DMK being a party in power for quite a long time, knows the importance of inside information. Now whispers doing rounds in the corridors of Fort St George is that the DMK have planted its moles in key places of the administration which ensures steady flow of crucial information relating to the day-to-day affairs of the Government.
The PAs and drivers are a perennial source of information in any government. Sources say DMK has planted their men in key positions who appoint PAs and drivers. Whispers doing rounds is 3 under secretaries namely Vasanthy, Periyanayagi and Ambalavanan in Tamil Nadu government's public department are suspected to have helped the Opposition DMK to spy on the activities of the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK government. The treacherous trio appear to be the deciding authorities on the appointment of all of personal assistants and drivers to ministers. The Public Department in Secretariat looks after the appointments of PAs and Drivers to Ministers.
The trio who hold key positions in the Public Department have chosen personal assistants and drivers who are loyal to them so that they can extract government information instantly and pass it on to their political masters. The three officials have reportedly helped Anna Arivalyam, the DMK headquarters to get crucial information on the AIADMK regime's moves, much before it reached either the state intelligence network or the media.
The latest buzz is that Vasanthy has recommended Surulivelrajan who was personal assistant to former DMK minister Ubaiyadullah and now efforts are on to tag him along with Agri S.S. Krishnamurthy, Commercial Taxes minister. The Public Department official Vasanthy has close ties with DMK’s women’s wing. Secretariat employees are quite surprised about the continuance of these spies working right under the nose of Jayalalitha.
Minister Velu 'Money's' golden touch
S.P.Velumani, is the Minister for Industries in the AIADMK government. It is a well known fact that Velumani is one of the nominees of the MM cartel in Amma's cabinet. Velumani who hails from the Kongu belt was given the key portfolio of Industries, which is considered as gold mine in administrative circles. Indeed S.P.Velumani appears to have hit a pot of gold in this portfolio.
Whispers doing rounds is that Velumani’s @ Velu ‘money’ is on a collection spree right from the word ‘go’. Many of the granite quarry owners were threatened to cough up sizeable sums of money under the guise of payment to MM cartel. The buzz in entire Fort St George is that by now Velumani must have amassed a sum of Rs.400 crores, for himself.
Whispers doing rounds in IAS circles is that the 400 crore rupees has been collected mainly from the granite lobby and iron scrap lobby, most of whom owe their allegiance to the DMK. Particularly, the biggest iron scrap business is run by Anand, who is reported to be the benami of M.K.Tamilarasu, son of DMK chief M.Karunanidhi. Since money doesn’t have colour or party affiliation, sources say Velumani had collected a sizeable amount from Anand.
Velumani had found gold as the right investment for his 'earnings' and is reported to have started a jewellery with three branches in Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruppur in the name and style of “AVR Swarna Mahal”. The jewellery which was started six months back – after Velumani became Industries Minister is on an advertisement spree and is giving a tough fight to traditional jewel traders. The jewellery is reported to be started by Velumani and his benamis. But what does AVR stands for...here is the answer - A for Anbu, V for Velumani and R for Radhakrishnan.
During the impending cabinet re-shuffle, Velumani is certain to face the axe, say poes garden insiders. But, whether amma would be satisfied with sacking him or will the DVAC go behind Velumani remains to be seen.
M K Stalin dumps Jinnah
Hasan Mohammed Ali Jinnah was M K Stalin's close confidant, some call him as a shadow of M K Stalin. In fact M K Stalin who was fearing a close contest in his Thousand Lights constituency replaced Jinnah as his nominee to contest from Thousand lights. But now Jinnah's long honeymoon has almost come to an end.
With M K Stalin calling the shots in the DMK youth wing by fixing age limit for party posts, Jinnah fears that very soon his he will be stripped of from his post of deputy secretary. By the way a point to be noted is that M K Stalin who is 59 years old is still the Secretary of the DMK youth wing, from the eighties and he still continues to be youth icon for the DMK.
But what is the reason for their split..? A question doing rounds in DMK circles...some say Jinnah being an advocate, and a former additional public prosecutor mishandled his cases...but whispers doing rounds in top DMK leadership is that Jinnah, did not help M K Stalin in his coup attempt to take control of Kalaignar TV. M K Stalin wanted one of his trusted lieutenant to be inducted into the Kalaignar TV board of directors before Kanimozhi is out on bail, so his first choice was Jinnah. But sensing trouble and danger Jinnah gave a slip and that seems to have angered M K Stalin and as a result Jinnah is completely sidelined.
Sad Sangamam
Its that time of the year when all bandits come together to organize Chennai Sangaman. A show that was carefully crafted to boost Kanimozhi's popularity, but all hell broke loose due to the 2G scam...and from then onwards it was Tihar sangaman and now it has become Sad sangamam. Recently, the organizers and some folk artists met Kanimozhi to greet her on the occasion of Pongal which turned out to be an emotional reunion.
A helpless Kanimozhi was at loss for words, but she made some alternative arrangements this time and it was DK leader Veeramani who came in for Kani's rescue. Veeramani promised that his partymen will hire local folk artists for their Pongal celebrations. At last in some way Veeramani has helped is the joke doing rounds in M K Stalin's circles.Karuna's snub to Nakkeeran
When bi-weekly Nakkeeran came under attack from the AIADMK party workers for its controversial 'beef eating' article on TN Chief Minister, its editor Nakkeeran Gopal and Associate editor Kamaraj were constantly on phone asking for help..several senior journalists received calls asking to issue an statement saying its an attack on freedom of press.
But Nakkeeran insiders say Nakkeeran Gopal and Kamaraj were also engaged in convincing DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi who was unhappy with the news. Gopal and Kamaraj had contacted Karunanidhi and pleaded that our office is under attack and no official is picking up their call. To their surprise Karunanidhi too had asked the same question, which rest of the world asked them..why did you publish such a provocative article...? Sources in Gopalapuram say Karunanidhi scolded both the veteran journalists (!!!!) as he was afraid that his name would be dragged into the entire controversy. Also Karunanidhi refused to issue a statement but as Gopal and Kamaraj were pleading he had no other choice but to release a short statement. Gopalapuram sources say while speaking to Karunanidhi both Nakkeeran Gopal and Kamaraj admitted that their motive was to publish this news and provoke Jaya so that they can boosts their circulation...but since it was an unprecedented reaction Gopal admitted that it was a wrong decision.
