Southern Notes: The man from Kongu Nadu

Kongu Nadu? It’s hardly likely that anyone outside of Tamil Nadu – and even some in the state – would have heard of it. But this unlikely sounding region of Tamil Nadu is now all over Tamil news channels, courtesy the induction of Dr L. Murugan as a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet and after some media BJP handles began talking of the minister from Kongu Nadu.

There is no formally defined region called Kongu Nadu, which is colloquially referred to the western, especially mid-northwestern, TN comprising Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Karur, Salem, Namakkal districts and parts of Dindigul district.

Derived from ancient Tamil literature, there is mention of Kongu in the Sangam age as one of the five regions of the Tamil land. The mention of Kongu Nadu has ignited speculation that BJP and the RSS are trying to divide the state, given that BJP has strong roots in and around Coimbatore, from where it won two of its four seats in the Assembly.

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Kerala’s loss is Telangana’s gain?

Militant trade unionism in Kerala is said to be coming in the way of industrialists. Despite scoring highly in Human Development Index [HDI] ratings, there is hardly any industry, private or public, in God’s own country … except for tourism. While comrades were expected to mellow over time, precisely the opposite has happened. Kitex, the world’s second largest manufacturer of children’s garments, has pulled out of a proposed new venture in the state, complaining of being hounded in Kerala [Kitex is a company started by a Keralite MA Jacob, and operates out of a Kochi suburb].

The Telangana government immediately sent a plane to invite the Kitex management and won a commitment from Kitex to set up its new ventures there.

Observers say a Kitex-backed political outfit contested 8 seats in the Ernakulam district, and while not winning any, spoiled the chances of the Left. Was this the reason for the ‘harassment’ cited by Kitex?

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Bengaluru’s pubs to reopen

Karnataka government is all set to lift the night curfew and allow pubs to reopen starting July 19. The strict weekend curfew was lifted and malls allowed to open on July 5, after weeks of stifling restrictions. As of now, only two districts, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru, have positivity rates above 5 per cent [in Bengaluru, it is less than 1 per cent]; the rest of the state is below this critical threshold.

Pub culture is an integral part of Bengaluru’s social and night life, giving it the impression of being a lively city. The reopened malls are attracting a fair number of visitors [over 40 pc increase in footfall], and with the lifting of the night curfew and pubs reopening, Bengaluru expects to rapidly move back to the pre-lockdown days.

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Jagan’s sister launches a party

Making good on her word, YS Sharmila, the sister of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, formally launched the YSR Telangana Party named after their father, the late Congress leader and chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy. She promised that 50 per cent of the Assembly seats would be reserved for women.

Sharmila also attacked the chief minister, and said the only thing he had achieved was to create longer lines for everything, from covid vaccines to ration cards. She said that no one was happy in the state, except for KCR and his family. She said KCR’s idea of making people stand on their own feet was to line them up everywhere for government services. Jagan Reddy, her brother, was conspicuously absent at the launch.