MADRAS: The all-powerful Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalitha has made sweeping changes in the portfolios of her cabinet ministers in the last few months and dropped as many as three ministers in the short period of eight months.
Coming as they do in quick succession within a few months the changes have raised many an eyebrow about the purpose or benefit to the functioning of the state administration. “Enjoying as she does a brute majority of 161 seats in a House of 234 cannot such frequent shuffling be avoided? If a minister is not allowed to settle down in a department what will be the quality of the work or the morale of the officers working under the minister?” are the questions being asked in political circles?
The latest to be axed from the cabinet is Backward Classes Minister R.M.Veerappan who was systematically stripped of his portfolios during the last few months.
The process of clipping his wings began as early as January when he was stripped of the portfolios of Tamil Development and Culture Development in January. Hardly a month had gone by and the powerful education portfolio was taken away from him and given to C.Aranganayakam.
Left with only Ex-service man’s welfare the CM gave him the meager boon of Backward Classes and Denotified Tribes. But even then it was obvious that the lady at the blear of affairs had made up her mind to make him bite dust. During his heydays in the MGR cabinet Veerappan had emerged as her bitter-most rival and the language he had allegedly used to describe her in some private circles would have put the most objectionable scurrilous writings which is the present burden of her song against the press to shame.
By now the signal was clear and it was only a matter of time before the final blow came But she chose to keep him on his toes for over two months before finally dropping him from the cabinet.
Master-puppeteer; Veerapan is the third minister to be dropped from the Jayalaitha cabinet in the last eight months. The chopping game began in October 1991 with Food and Cooperation Minister K.Rajaram being the first target. “It was his habit of talking to some of the political bigwigs in Delhi directly without Ammas knowledge. And he was alleged to have indulged in some loose talk about her.” With this background came the scandal in the purchase of crackers for the cooperatives costing a few crores He was swiftly replaced by G. Viswanathan as the Food and Cooperation Minister.
The next head to roll was that of Rural Industries Mohammad Asif According to party circles he had to pay the price for his inability to speak fluently in Tamil a short coming which embarrassed him to no end in the Assembly. His crown fell upon 29-yr-old Nagore Meeran
Shuffling of bureaucrats: While the portfolios of Ministers have been shuffled bureaucrats have not been spared. After appointing T.V. Venkataraman as the Chief Secretary immediately after being sworn in she overhauled the CMs Secretariat.
In the shuffle which followed this time the Industries Secretary was shifted on the eve of her much publicized first meeting with the industrialists of the State.
The chairmanship of the Electricity Board was particularly a jinxed one. In the last few months the Board has seen three chairman.
With the dropping of Veerapan the million dollar question being asked is about a new entrant. But this is not likely: her lucky number is 19 and right now there are 18 ministers in the cabinet say’s a party bigwig. But the other more pertinent question being asked is. “Are her action based on mere whims or is there a method in her madness? And do they reflect the stable foundation on which her government is supposed to be based?
Article extracted from this publication >> June 5, 1992
