News Brief
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin (Facebook)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is spending two days in western Tamil Nadu attending a slew of functions and events. Stalin's party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was handed a stinging defeated in western Tamil Nadu during the last assembly elections held earlier this year.
The party had lost all ten seats in Coimbatore district. Across the region the party which did well in Kaveri delta and southern districts could manage to win only 17 of 57 seats in the western Tamil Nadu region.
The region has historically backed the DMK's main rival the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) since the time of the latter's founder the late MG Ramachandran.
Claiming that his government would work as much for the benefit of those who didn't vote for the DMK the Chief Minister promised to make Coimbatore one of India's top industrial cities - a clear reference to Coimbatore's rejection of his party in legislative assembly polls,
The Chief Minister's current visit comes ahead of local body polls in the region. Further, Stalin appointed Senthil Balaji, Minister for Electricity, Prohibition & Excise to oversee the events and on going preparations for the local body polls. Balaji is seen as an efficient minister by Stalin - a confidence reflected in the allotment of lucrative departments such as alcohol, excise and electricity, all in the hands of one man.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cadre took to Twitter to make a point. Tens of thousands of tweets with the hashtag #GoBackStalin were posted in an apparent revenge for DMK cadre trending #GoBackModi during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to Tamil Nadu earlier.