Chennai: That L Murugan alone from the State has been accommodated in the new Union Cabinet that too as just a Union Minister of State had caused widespread resentment among certain section in the political arena particularly in the context of the BJP managing to increase its vote share in the Lok Sabha polls and many of its candidates coming second in their constituencies.
Among those who were expected to be given ministerial berths was Tamilisai Soundararajan, a long time BJP leader and former State president who gave up her gubernatorial positions, in Telangana and Puducherry, to contest the elections from the prestigious South Chennai constituency and finish second in the race.
For Murugan, too, many anticipated an elevation as a Union Minister. The retention of the two other Ministers of Tamil Nadu origin, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, in the Cabinet did not stop the wagging of tongues within the party circles and also outside of it because those two leaders are seen more as outsiders than as Tamils.
It is learnt that the BJP high command also denied an opportunity for a representative of the PMK, an ally of the BJP in the elections, to get a ministerial berth though the party’ candidate from Dharmpuri constituency, Sowmiya Anbumani, gave a tough fight in the elections by maintaining the lead for a long time on the day of counting. Also her husband Anbumani Ramadoss is a sitting Rajya Sabha member.
Since the popular perception before and after the polls was that the party would reward State President K Annamalai with a Ministerial berth for improving the party’s vote share and also for popularizing it in the State, taking it to every nook and cranny through, among other things, his yatra, when his name was missing in the list of ministers, many were surprised.
But State BJP sources said that Annamalai himself had declined to take up any position other than keeping the party State President post as he was keen on concentrating on developing his political base in the State with an eye on the 2026 Assembly elections, which he is hopeful of winning and becoming the Chief Minister of the State.
Sources in the party also seek to justify the high command’s decision to not consider anyone other than Murugan for the 72-member Cabinet, saying that any of the candidates would have become a Minister if they had managed to win the Lok Sabha elections. But the critics point out that Nirmala Sitharaman refused to contest the same elections and even Jaishankar had not won any polls.
So, the party could have considered the many other leaders in the State who strove for its victory, though in vain, by acknowledging their dedication and loyalty to the party, some feel. Even social media in the State was replete with memes and trolls pointing out the BJP’s neglect of State leaders when it came to picking union ministers and being favourable to Sitharaman and Jaishankar.
