Reel to real challenges for Tamil Nadu CM Vijay

Tamil Nadu chief minister (CM) Joseph Vijay has expanded his team of ministers and inducted representatives from the Congress, Indian Union Muslim League, and the Viduthalai Chiruthagal Katchi.

- RK Raghavan

This is the first coalition government in the state since 1952. His focus now must shift to governance.

Barring some tendentious groups motivated by political animus, a sizeable section of the state’s population desperately want Vijay to succeed.

Vijay’s lack of experience in public administration is cited by most of his adversaries as reason why he will not succeed. There are at the same time those who wanted a change and who describe this as baseless cynicism. The history of modern public administration in India and a few other Asian countries highlights the fact that a few neophytes have indeed succeeded even when the odds were against them.

My mind goes immediately to the decisively effective rule given by K Kamaraj, who lent the much-needed political stability to Tamil Nadu in the early 1950s.