Chief Minister Jayalalithaa signs photo credit at Fort St. George in Chennai on 16 May 2011: Hindu
RApparently, many leading personalities paid tribute to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on their 77th birth anniversary. I followed Jayalalithaa’s public life from the beginning. He, like me, also t. There was a resident of the city, who was a heaven of a shopkeeper in Chennai.
Every observation and conversation achieved new discoveries. On May 16, 2011, when she was sworn in as Chief Minister for the third time, I noticed how strongly she could express herself without saying a word. When I bowed forward to give my visiting card at the Chief Minister’s Chamber at Fort St. George, a police constable tried to push me slowly. The way she saw the constable is still fresh in my memory.
However, in 2001, when Jayalalithaa returned to power, her equation with the media was anything but cordial. His government started registering defamation cases against the press. As of September 2003, his establishment filed 15 defamation complaints. HinduIn addition to the initiative Violation of privilege proceedings For three reports, ‘Rising Intolerance’ against the newspaper in the Assembly and an editorial.
After this, I did some research and called for a story that I thought was harmless. The story was about the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to build a check dam to increase the water supply to Chennai. Tamil Nadu, like many other parts of the country, was moving for a long time of acute water scarcity. Chennai, which largely depends on rainfall to quench its thirst, was badly affected. Any news report on water then attracted public attention, as it always appeared on the front page. My story, also, appeared on page 1 Hindu On July 26, 2001.
But Jayalalithaa had a different opinion. Her objection was not for the main part of the story, but for Tapasya Para, stating that she was said to be Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu will meet Naidu, who was looking for more Krishna water, which had become an important source for Chennai since 1996.
I did not know that the next day, when at around 8 pm, I received a call from an IAS officer on my landline at home, which asked me to be ready to get a call from another officer associated with the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). The second officer came on the line. Speaking in a soft voice, he instigated the matter about the Chief Minister’s proposed visit to Hyderabad and asked me to reveal his source. I was stumped. The official said that only some people knew about his visit. I replied to him that he was wasting his time and energy by talking to “low mortal” as a representative of “All-Miti Sarkar”. He suddenly cut the call. I have a news bureau about the call, V. Told Jayant’s head.
Later that day, the CMO issued a statement stating that Jayalalithaa would meet Mr. Naidu on August 3. In the event of such a journey plan, this news will be given to all. It became clear for me that Jayalalithaa first wanted to publicly make “positive news” about her government measures. When Mr. Jayant came in a press release, he thought of mentioning in the copy about the refusal of the CMO, the conversation with the CMO officer was a conversation. However, on other views, they dropped it, not prepared to receive cases.
My source remained in a position for more than two years. The officer who called me also stayed in the CMO for two years. While I was always remembered this episode, it was always smart with the fact that I was asked to reveal my source, he had forgotten about it. I met him at a public function in 2013 and reminded him about the call. When his turn came to talk that day, he welcomed me and even mentioned the phone conversation. Jayalalithaa was still in power at that time.
ramakrishnan.t@thehindu.co.in
Published – March 07, 2025 01:05 AM IST