Now, Nehru, Gandhi will report to Stalin

Now, Nehru, Gandhi will report to Stalin

Chennai:07.05.2021

Call it by design or coincidence – Tamil Nadu’s newly minted cabinet will have a Gandhi running the Khadi and rural employment department, and a Nehru captaining urban development.

Only ticklish aspect is both this Gandhi and Nehru had faced corruption charges in the past, before being cleared of all charges by courts. Only the prospective speaker will have trouble calling out the names of Gandhi or Nehru, ordering them either to speak out or shut up. It is tough to shout: “Gandhi, your time is up. Let Nehru begin his reply now.”

For the record, however, it has to be noted R Gandhi, the four-time MLA from Ranipet constituency, is minister for Khadi, village industries, and Bhoodhan. Five-time Trichy-West MLA K N Nehru is minister for urban development and municipal administration.

In 2005, Gandhi, along with his wife and son faced a case for amassing assets disproportionate to known sources of income. The charges were quashed by courts in 2015 for want of evidence.

Nehru, too, battled a slew of corruption and grave criminal cases slapped on him by the Jayalalithaa dispensation after 2001. He battled land grab and criminal intimidation cases too. He has not been found guilty in any of them.

When results started trickling in on on May 2, meme factories in Tamil Nadu came alive pointing out that the Assembly will have a lot of renowned national and international giants — two Gandhis, one Nehru and a Stalin. The second Gandhi, bearing initials M R, could not get into the cabinet because he got elected in BJP ticket, representing Nagercoil constituency. TNN