CHENNAI: Ever since it has been made official that Sasikala Natarajan will replace Panneerselvam as the new Chief Minister, the State bureaucracy has seen a massive shuffling especially targeting those loyal to the former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. On Monday, Santa Sheela Nair, a retired IAS officer who was given in charge of monitoring AIADMK’s poll promises was removed from office, a move termed as ‘preparations’ for Sasikala to take the chair.
The State police department had also seen massive changes with Inspector general of police in the state intelligence, Mr. K N Sathiyamoorthy reportedly asked to go on leave for ten days.
Prior to this on Friday, top bureaucrat Sheela Bala Krishna, serving as an adviser to the government was asked to quit. Also, secretaries to the Chief minister K S Venkataramanan and Ramalingam were removed without reason.
Santa Sheela Nair, former Vice-President of the Planning commission was specially appointed by the former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to help her in implementing various government schemes effectively. A senior government official confirmed to the Times of India that she has left her post. However, Santa refused to comment on the same when asked by the local media. The bureaucrat enjoyed greater supremacy during the term of CM Jayalalithaa, but the same has reversed after her demise.
On the other hand, Sathiyamoorthy’s leave at a time when the new Chief minister is set to take office has surprised everyone. The state police play a major role in maintaining security during the Chief minister’s swearing-in ceremony and the absence of the intelligence officer is really surprising. As of now, IG C Eswaramoorthy, currently handling the State’s internal security wing was given the additional charge of Intelligence.
Meanwhile, there has been a buzz in the corridors of AIADMK’s office that all the loyalists of Jayalalithaa will be targeted. Many IAS and IPS officials were reportedly getting ready for transfers. A few police officers were also said to be meeting the future CM to express their loyalty to her in order to escape transfers. The million dollar question which no one understands is on why is the next CM targeting the loyal officers of the former Chief minister, when she herself is an Amma fan?!
Adding to it, the state politics got further degraded with residents openly opposing Sasikala’s appointment as the new Chief minister over the social media.