Cyclone Vardah relief: Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam to meet PM Modi

[caption id=“attachment_1780585” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of O Panneerselvam. PTI[/caption] Chennai: Days after he urged the Centre to grant Rs 1000 Crore for cyclone relief operations in the state, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to press the demand. He will also urge the Centre to posthumously confer “Bharat Ratna” on former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and also put up her life size bronze statue in Parliament complex, an official release said. The first Cabinet meeting chaired by Panneerselvam on 10 December had adopted a resolution in which the twin matters of the highest civilian award and a statue for Jayalalithaa figured. On 13 December, a day after the cyclone wrecked havoc in the state, Panneerselvam had urged Modi in a letter to sanction Rs 1,000 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, the release said adding he will return to Chennai the same day. After he took over as Chief Minister on 6 December, it will be the first visit of Panneerselvam to the PM in Delhi and he is expected to follow up on the previous memorandums submitted to Modi by his predecessor Jayalalithaa.