New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit Wednesday accepted Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami’s recommendation to drop IT minister Dr M. Manikandan, making it the first time that a minister has been dropped from the Palaniswami cabinet since the government was formed in February 2017.
Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar has now been given additional charge of the IT ministry.
The sacking comes in the wake of the chief minister handing charge of the state-run Tamilnadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV), which was under the IT ministry, to the Minister for Animal Husbandry, Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan, two weeks ago.
Following the decision, Manikandan had targeted Radhakrishnan after the new TACTV chief demanded the return of all private cable TV operators who had deserted the Arasu network.
In a presser Wednesday morning, Manikandan said that Radhakrishnan “cannot change everything overnight” and then went on to accuse the husbandry minister of hypocrisy.
“First of all, Radhakrishnan owns a cable tv network ‘Akshaya’, which he distributes through the ‘Willet’ set up box that has over 2 lakh connections,” Manikandan said. “He has to be a role model for others by giving up these 2 lakh connections to Arasu Cable Tv. Only then should he proffer advice to others.”
By evening, Manikandan was sacked.
He had already been under fire from party cadre in his constituency of Ramanathapuram. In February, town secretaries of Ramanathapuram wanted Manikandan to be sacked for his alleged misdeeds in his constituency.
AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan said Manikandan’s sacking had nothing to do with his remarks. “While there is speculation floating around that Manikandan made unwarranted statements, this is nothing but a regular cabinet reshuffle,” he said. “Amma’s (Jayalalithaa’s) cabinet saw reshuffles often and our chief minister is taking her governance forward.”
Radhakrishnan had earlier held the post
This, however, isn’t the first time that Radhakrishnan has taken charge of Arasu Cable TV. He had previously held the position under then CM Jayalalithaa between 2011 and 2016.
There is speculation that he has been brought in to improve the state-run TV cable’s operations. Arasu Cable was started in 2011 at a nominal fee of Rs 70 per month for 100 channels. Over time, it has increased to Rs 260 for 191 channels.
But the migration of subscribers to cheaper private cable networks and cable operators had forced the government to slash tariff to a maximum of Rs 154 for 191 channels on 1 August.
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