In a strange move, Ministers P. Thangamani and S.P. Velumani, considered to be close aides of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, met Union Railway and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi on Monday to seek grants for local bodies and houses for those displaced by Cyclone Gaja.
Mr. Goyal, who, as BJP’s Tamil Nadu in-charge, played a key role in negotiating an electoral alliance with the AIADMK through the two Ministers, does not handle the portfolios dealing with their demands.
Mr. Velumani, the Municipal Administration Minister, and Mr. Thangamani, the Electricity Minister, handed a memorandum with a set of demands to Mr. Goyal and urged him to get them fulfilled through the “concerned ministries (Sic)”.