Amid controversy, Tamil Nadu govt set to unveil Jaya’s portrait in Assembly

The Assembly secretariat’s announcement on Saturday that Speaker P Dhanapal would unveil the portrait while Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami would preside over the function in the presence of deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has already created a delicate situation, with the opposition parties bent against the move. The DMK has been seeking the removal of Jayalalithaa’s portraits from government offices, saying she was convicted in the disproportionate assets case. 

In fact, a couple of PILs were also filed at the HC against portraits of Jayalalithaa in government offices. Stating that an official announcement on the issue would come from party working president MK Stalin, DMK headquarters secretary Duraimurugan who denied receiving an invitation for the unveiling of the portrait in the Assembly, said, “The move to unveil the portrait of the former CM is unnecessary. The government should instead think about the budget. We (DMK) have been courteous enough to not speak about the deceased (Jayalalithaa). Now, the ruling party is forcing us to talk about her in public. We will definitely tell people that she is a criminal convicted by the Supreme Court.”   

The failure of Modi to accept the invitation to unveil the portrait which was extended on May 24 has also set the ball rolling over the growing strain in ties between the AIADMK and BJP. BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan on refusing to comment on the unveiling of Jayalalithaa’s portrait as well as the PM’s visit, said, “How can I comment on the subject? The PM could have many reasons. I am not the right person to speak about it”.