Unconfirmed reports are circulating that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay is set to appoint a government post for someone who has long served as his bodyguard.
In Tamil Nadu, cinema and politics have always had a close connection. Former Chief Ministers MGR and Jayalalithaa both rose to become Chief Ministers after starting out as actors. Karunanidhi was also a well-known figure in the film industry. More recently, Joseph Vijay, who was an actor, started a political party and is now sitting in the Chief Minister’s chair.
However, unlike the former Chief Ministers, Joseph Vijay’s appointments appear somewhat different.
Previous chief ministers used to keep those close to them even closer. They would appoint people to handle their personal affairs and place government officials and IAS officers whom they believed would act in their favor in key positions.
But Chief Minister Vijay is not like that. He has been continuously giving government posts, government-related appointments, and responsibilities to many friends from the film industry. To begin with, he came under criticism for giving a government responsibility to his own astrologer; after that appointment was canceled, suspicions even arose that appointments, responsibilities, and posts were being handed out without much publicity.
When Venkata Narayana, the producer of Jananayagan, was appointed as Tamil Nadu’s representative for New Delhi, there was strong criticism. Since he is from Karnataka, questions were raised about whether there wasn’t even a single Tamil person available.
Next, Vijay’s long-time manager and assistant, Jagadeesh Palanisamy, was appointed as the Chief Minister’s political special secretary.
Director Manoj Paramahamsa was appointed as the administrator of MGR Government College.
At present, in the trustee selection committee of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, opportunities have been given to Archana Kalpathi, who produced Vijay’s films Bigil and GOAT, and to playback singer Velmurugan, who sang TVK’s political awareness song.
Amid reports that Chief Minister Vijay has been continuously assigning certain government responsibilities to his close friends, unconfirmed information is now emerging that a government post will be given to Moosa, who has long served as his bodyguard.
Perhaps this information is spreading as a rumor because Vijay has recently been assigning responsibilities to those close to him? Or has some action actually been taken and leaked? None of this has been confirmed.
No official information has been released about this; only rumors are circulating. If Musa is to be given a post, there is also discussion about what kind of post it might be. But that talk remains purely political speculation.