In a conspicuous development, the ruling AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu has of late been fielding one Minister after another, some of them ranked lower in the pecking order in the Edappadi K. Palaniswami Cabinet, to respond to issues raised by the Leader of the Opposition and DMK president M.K. Stalin on the COVID-19 front.
While it is understandable for Ministers to counter an Opposition leader on issues concerning their respective departments, it is becoming a trend, since the outbreak of the pandemic, that even Ministers whose portfolios are not linked with their assigned subjects have been rebutting the views of Mr. Stalin. Even though this can be explained away by saying that there is nothing wrong under the Cabinet form of government, the trend is uncommon to Tamil Nadu.
Incidentally, the strategy has been employed after Mr. Palaniswami, who has stoutly refused to convene an all-party meeting on COVID-19 contending that it is purely a medical issue, had in mid-April quipped that there was no need to respond to the Opposition leader’s criticisms on the government’s handling of the pandemic.
While Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar has on numerous occasions countered the DMK leader sinc