NE NEWS SERVICE
TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, AUG 19
Hardly a day after a group of ministers headed by the Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar demanded to announce the temple city, Madurai as second capital, State Tourism Minister Vellamandi Srinivasan has raised his voice to make Tiruchirappalli as second capital on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters at Tiruchirappalli, Srinivasan (hailing from Trichy East) referred to the plans for Trichy as AIADMK icon MG Ramachandran’s dream idea. He made this appeal to the duo, the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his deputy O. Panneerselvam to work towards that dream.
Earlier, ministers from Madurai – RB Udayakumar and Sellur Raju had made public comments, seeking the AIADMK’s top order to focus on the temple town. While Palaniswami hails from Erode in the state’s western Kongu belt, Panneerselvam is from Theni’s Periyakulam near Madurai.
Queried about the varied demands emerging from AIADMK ministers from non-Chennai districts, the State Culture Minister K Pandiarajan sought to underplay the trend, saying the government will take a call on the demands.
The comment on Trichy, on Wednesday, arrived at a time the AIADMK was showing increasing signs of internal disagreement. Right on Independence day, a group of ministers shuttled between the residences of Panneerselvam and Palaniswami seeking to put an end to what appeared to be a tiff over the chief ministerial candidate for 2021 elections.
