Tamil Nadu CM Panneerselvam to meet Modi, ask for Bharat Ratna for Jaya

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, December 19, 2016: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today to demand a Rs 1000 crore package for cyclone relief operations in the state.

On December 13, a day after Cyclone Vardah wrecked havoc in the state, Panneerselvam had urged Modi to sanction Rs 1000 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund to the state for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Panneerselvam will also give a memorandum on several other demands of Tamil Nadu to the Prime Minister, a Tamil Nadu government release said on Sunday.

BHARAT RATNA FOR JAYA

Panneerselvam is also expected to urge the Centre to posthumously confer the Bharat Ratna on former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who died earlier this month of cardiac arrets.

The Chief Minister is also likely to ask for Amma’s lifesize bronze statue in Parliament complex, the official release said.

The first Cabinet meeting chaired by Panneerselvam on December 10 had adopted a resolution in which the twin matters of the highest civilian award and a statue for Jayalalithaa had figured.

After he took over as Chief Minister on December 6, it is Panneerselvam’s first visit to Delhi. He is expected to follow up on the previous memorandums submitted to Modi by his predecessor Jayalalithaa.