On the day the DA case of Jayalalithaa was being
argued in the Supreme Court by Sasikalaa’s lawyers rejecting the notion of Sasikalaa
as a power centre, Times
of India, Chennai edition carried a huge headline saying that Sasikalaa
had a hand in the change of candidates in the upcoming elections.
While the headline screams “Sasikalaa’s
stamp on changes in AIADMK’s list of candidates”, the article does not
contain any information linking Sasikalaa to the changes that Jayalalithaa has
made in the candidate list. No source or authenticity was quoted in the article
to indicate Sasikalaa’s complicity in this matter. Instead it has been said throughout
in the article that the changes have been effected based on the winnability of
the candidates and the inputs received from the surveys and intelligence
reports. That means even if Sasikalaa had wanted her men to be given seats,
their winnability and popularity only had decided their inclusion in the list.
Such being the case, why this mischievous title was given
by the News network of TOI? Why passing on specific notions as news and pushing
them in the title by the News desk of TOI? If this news appears under some writer’s name,
we will think that it is the writer’s wish to project such a notion. But when
the news appears in the name of TOI news network, then it smacks of some hidden
agenda or motive. Or is this a case of paid news by the TOI?
The title on Sasikalaa appearing at a time when the
case is being heard about her complicity in DA case raises the question whether
TOI is upto creating opinions in somebody’s mind. (If I mention who that
somebody is, I may be accused of abuse of a constitutional authority). Only a DMK
support- magazine can make such headlines without substance to support.
I would accuse that this is paid news, for, in the
same newspaper a more important news of the day was not given the place that is
due to it. Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi’s daughter had
made an important statement that all the liquor manufacturing units run by the DMK men would be closed
if DMK comes to power. This news appears as a small box item on the 10th
page.
This was not told by some DMK man, but by the
daughter of the DMK patriarch who is a contender to the post of a future
successor to Karunanidhi. Kanimozhi have even said that once coming to power
they would not even divert the liquor sales to other States. It would be a
complete closure. Kanimozhi has said that this was told by Karunanidhi himself.
From another online magazine (tamil.oneindia.com)
Is this not a newsworthy statement? This statement by
none other than Kanimozhi raises the counter question why not close down the
liquor units NOW itself. If the DMK is serious about prohibition, why wait till
it comes to power? It should close the manufacturing units now itself. Why TOI
failed to give a prominent slot to this news item in its newspaper?
This statement by Kanimozhi spelling out DMK’s
stance is worthy to be the headline in the front page but it also would attract
a political storm. But by pushing it to a small box-news, TOI stands suspect in
the eyes of the reader that it has tried to reduce the brickbats to the DMK generated
by this statement. Why should it do this unless TOI had been taken care of well
by the DMK. One can recall the meet with the media that Stalin had at the end
of his “Namakku Naame” programme. Public has no
idea of who attended that meet. But the news carried by the magazines, now
including the TOI shows who attended it and what happened behind the screens.
Earlier TOI carried a news item (a few months ago)
on the powerful / power wielding sons of politicians. Almost every politician
in TN has a son or a son in law who is doing the controlling act from behind
the politician. Sabareesan, the son in law of
Stalin is a well known name in this segment. Only Jayalalithaa is left out in
this area. As if to make up for it the TOI article / news item showed
Jayalalithaa’s picture and a ‘son’ who is the son of the Ilavarasi. Has at any
time until now, this son of Ilavarasi made his name or face or clout anywhere
felt? But the news item said that he is the foster son of Jayalalithaa but
could not pinpoint any instance of a role for him in the party or anywhere. But
then why drag Jayalalithaa’s photo and that guy’s photo in that article? Is it
to satisfy some pay masters and to say that TOI does a ‘level playing’ game
with all parties, even if there is none to point out on Jayalalithaa in that
segment?
This makes me think that TOI is going The Hindu way.
The Hindu which was once called as Mount Road Mahavishnu by Karunanidhi is now
known among readers as Mount Road Murasoli! (Murasoli is the official news
paper of DMK). Not many believe or care about the articles and opinions published
in The Hindu. It is now on par with many local Tamil dailies and magazines like
Nakkeeran and Vikatan which are the mouth pieces of the DMK. No wonder the
reader base of The Hindu is eroding day by day. The TOI is also going to go on
that direction.
**********
From
Apr 19 2016 : The Times of India (Chennai)
Sasikalaa's stamp on changes in AIADMK's
list of candidates
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
|
Party
Drops 8 Candidates, Replaces 3
AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa's associate Sasikalaa appears to be
making her presence felt as the AIADMK list of candidates for the assembly
election goes through a review. On Monday, the party chief made yet
another change in her list, dropping eight candidates and replacing three with
ministers, who had been left out in the original list of 227 released on April
4.
So far, Jayalalithaa has changed 21 candidates.
Sources said several factors influenced the
AIADMK leader's decision, including Sasikalaa's insistence that some of her
supporters, sitting MLAs, be retained, besides intelligence inputs about
candidates' image, credibility and petitions from cadres.
Jayalalithaa has chosen to bring back three
ministers, who did not figure in the initial list, to take on heavyweights from other parties.
While higher education minister P Palaniappan has
been fielded in Pappireddipatti in Dharmapuri district, where he had contested and won
in 2011,
minister for rural industries and milk P Mohan will
contest in his home constituency of Sankarapuram in Cuddalore district. It was
found that A S A Rajasekar, who was replaced by Mohan, was not so popular.
Tourism minister S P Shanmughanathan will contest again from
Srivaikuntam in Tuticorin district.
Party leaders whisper about surveys conducted by the
leadership to assess how voters are receiving their candidates.
It was found that G S Kuppusamy , who was fielded
earlier in Pappirediipatti had poor prospects. “The feedback Amma got was that Kuppusamy was sure to lose,“ said a
party functionary on condition of anonymity . The “survey“ apparently also indicated that Palaniappan
would win if he was fielded.
Jayalalithaa has
clearly accorded priority to ensuring that candidates with a clean image are
fielded as corruption is emerging as a key plank.
Jayalalithaa had fielded Tamilarasi, the party's
women's wing secretary , to take on DMK veteran K N Nehru in Trichy West. Later
a decision was taken to replace her with Trichy district secretary R Manoharan
and to move her to Trichy East. The decision to replace her kicked up a furore
among her supporters, who picketed the entrance of the Rock Fort Temple when
Natarajan and his men had gone to pray .
Subsequently, the leadership has replaced Tamilarasi
with Vellamandi N Natarajan in Trichy East. In the process, Tamilarasi has now
ended up losing her post as councillor in Trichy corporation as well. She had
tendered her resignation from the post after announcement of her candidature.
