Question number 43 in the question paper for the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) examination, conducted on Sunday, set the social media on fire as it was related to the conviction of the former Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa. The question read: ‘The first serving Chief Minister of an Indian State who lost his/her post after being convicted in a disproportionate assets case’ and went on to give four options to choose from: ‘Lalu Prasad, Jagannath Mishra, J. Jayalalitha and B.S. Yeddyurappa.’ That the question was set in an examination conducted by a body under the Centre raised many eyebrows and instantly became the talk of the town.
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People who had gathered at Screen 5 of Inox theatres at Madurai on Sunday afternoon to watch The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies were in for a surprise not only during the movie but also during the interval when a promotional video came on the screen. It repeatedly referred to the former Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, as Mudhalamaichar Amma and praised her for having provided free bags, books, uniforms, geometry boxes and footwear to government school students. It also showed her distributing the freebies to the students, besides being busy with official work at the Chief Minister’s office. Interestingly, it was cut off abruptly just seconds before it displayed the name of the government department at whose behest it was produced and played at the theatre.
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The first phase of sittings by the Sagayam committee probing illegal granite mining in Madurai district during the first week of December was eventful.
First, it was the issue of the agents of a granite baron snooping around the office of the committee. Next came the ‘alert’ that the rooms in the Circuit House, where Mr. Sagayam, an IAS officer, and his aides were staying, were “bugged.” Though Mr. Sagayam and his assistants immediately shifted to other rooms, official sources said those manning the Circuit House wanted Mr. Sagayam to shift out again as the particular room where the former Madurai Collector had shifted into was the one used by the local Minister.
While the officials of the panel refused to change the room for the obvious reason — the threat of bugging — it is to be seen which rooms Mr. Sagayam and his team get when they return to Madurai from Chennai on Monday, or if they will stay in the Circuit House at all.
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Though political circles are abuzz with a possible electoral understanding after the meeting between DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin and MDMK general secretary Vaiko on the sidelines a marriage function recently, Mr. Vaiko seems to be maintaining an equal distance from the DMK and the ruling AIADMK alike. It became clear when he addressed a party meeting in Tiruchi last week. While touching upon the evils of alcohol that ruined several youths and families, Mr. Vaiko alleged that DMK president Karunanidhi had to be faulted first as he was the one who first allowed liquor shops in Tamil Nadu, and then AIADMK general secretary Jalalithaa as she was responsible for opening TASMAC liquor shops across the State. Mr. Vaiko went on to say that he would support Ms. Jayalalithaa on the Mullaperiyar dam issue.
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