Thangam Thennarasu mocks ‘brother’ Sellur Raju’s bravado

CHENNAI: In a treasury bench packed with battle-scarred politicians, one must be careful what she/he asks for in the State Assembly. There is no guarantee that even a seasoned old -timer from the opposition ranks could escape the sharp wit of the ruling dispensation.

Former AIADMK minister Sellur K Raju was dumbfounded when he attempted to take an innocuous jibe at State Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu in the House on Friday.

Earnestly appealing to the industries minister to bring more units to Madurai, the senior AIADMK MLA who has an uncanny knack of lightening the mood of party MLAs, said, "Everyone will adore Thennarasu if he brings industries to Madurai."

Acknowledging the pun-packed appeal in the former minister's words, Thangam Thennarasu said, "Not only the people of Madurai, people of Tamil Nadu on the whole are oohing and aahing about our brother. I was bowled over too. Recently, one of his photographs was doing rounds. Normally, we will run helter-skelter at the sight of a tiger. Even in Madurai, people only tame bulls. But, our brother Sellur Raju was seen holding the tail of a tiger. That is the shrewdness of the people of Madurai. He avoided going to the side of the tiger's mouth and held its tail. Such a talented elder brother has asked us to bring more to southern districts. Yes. we are determined to get the industries to set up shop in southern districts."

The minister's tiger-tale retort left both the treasury benches and opposition ranks in splits.