What a clarity!!

May 14, 2007 at 4:03 pm (Cabinet, CM, Dayanidhi Maran, DMK, Karunanidhi, Manmohan Singh, Maran, MDMK, parliament, PM, politics, Resignation, Sun TV, telecom, Vaiko)

It appears that DMK has sent a list of 7 names to the PM to choose from, as the successor to Dayanidhi Maran.

Thank god for the small mercies! The PM can atleast now claim to have chosen, in contrast to the earlier situation.

I raised this question earlier and am bringing it up again now! Is this ministry the property of the DMK that it is to be filled only by the party nominees?

It must be recalled that Vaiko had alleged earlier that MK (DMK’s President and CM of Tamil Nadu) had negotiated the ministerial berths taking into account the performance of MDMK as well but alloted none to that party. The PM did not deny this allegation.

Now that MDMK is out of the UPA, can DMK continue to insist on the number of ministers and the portfolio as well?

PM! Will you exercise your right in choosing your cabinet atelast now, in all fairness and objectivity?

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Did Maran deserve this treatment?

May 14, 2007 at 1:29 pm (Dayanidhi Maran, DMK, Karunanidhi, Maran, politics, Sun TV)

Many bloggers have opined that this is quite unjust and that a performer like Maran should not have been treated so shabbily.  But it should be remembered that it was also not ok for a first time MP to be given the post of a Cabinet Minister, especially in the sensitive portfolio of Telecommunications and IT, given the conflict of interest of his brother’s (and his) media empire.

What goes around, comes around!

And when I read some of the posts about the resignation episode, I was really amused.

Quote “He is educated like his father and can only stand behind Stalin to do politics as his father did standing behind MK.”  Unquote.  If a mere graduation can make one person be tagged as educated, then Dayanidhi Maran is indeed educated.  Yeah, he did attend a certification program from Harvard and if you would consider that as being educated, then he is certainly so.

Quote “Being convent-educated, he initially found it difficult to address voters in Tamil”.  Unquote.  Public memory might be short, but it was this same ‘convent-educated’ person who invited Vaiko to a duel in “chaste” tamil in an open meeting.

Quote.  “He had a sort of dynamicism that was well appreciated. But his lack of popular support & lack of Machiavellism proved his undoing. ” Unquote.  I have never seen any Union minister (including the Prime Minister) who got the kind of media coverage that Dayanidhi Maran got so far.  He was projected as the architect of Telecom reforms within weeks of being appointed as the Minister (a first time MP with no experience in politics) and the media went crazy about him.  I find the “lack of popular support” really amusing.  If one were to measure the media coverage by any yardstick, then Maran would beat others by a few miles.  And he was there for every photo opportunity (I must really admit that he has a very good photogenic face) be it a celebration or a tragedy.  The media tired of the old hands clad in dhoti and talking in hindi, was enamoured by this young person and thus showered their attention on him.

And it is really time we get to clearly redefine ‘education’ as something different from talking in English and wearing a suit.

But very difficult for the English Press and media! 

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