Chennai, August 19
Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Chennai on Wednesday night to chair the 31st Southern Zonal Council meeting at Kovalam on Thursday. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay will be its vice-chairman.
Shah landed at Chennai airport around 9 p.m. and was received by Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagendran, Vanathi Srinivasan and party functionaries. Former Ministers Agri S.S. Krishnamurthy, O.S. Manian and N. Thalavai Sundaram represented the AIADMK, while School Education Minister Rajmohan welcomed him on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government.
The Union Home Minister then travelled to a Mamallapuram star hotel, where Vijay received him. It was Vijay’s first formal meeting with Shah after taking oath as Chief Minister. Shah, Vijay and the Chief Ministers of the participating States were to attend a dinner that night.
The meeting, organised by the Inter-State Council Secretariat under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, is scheduled for four hours from 10 a.m. on Thursday. The Tamil Nadu government is hosting the conference.
Chief Ministers and senior officials from Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will participate, along with representatives of Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
The Southern Zonal Council is a statutory body constituted under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The meeting is expected to discuss matters concerning inter-State coordination, security and development. Its recommendations are advisory.
Tamil Nadu will also be represented by Energy Resources and Law Minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar and Rajmohan as Council members. Chief Secretary M. Sai Kumar and Additional Chief Secretary for Home, Prohibition and Excise K. Manivasan will participate as advisers.
Former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan welcomed Shah and expressed confidence that the discussions would strengthen cooperative federalism and promote the development of southern States.
Shah is scheduled to leave Chennai around 5.40 p.m. on Thursday after the meeting.
