Had to cancel my Colombo trip due to delay in Centre’s nod: Thangam Thennarasu

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Monday said Chief Minister M K Stalin’s video message was not aired at the “Naam 200” event marking the bicentenary of the arrival of Indian-origin Tamils (IOTs) to Sri Lanka and sought to know the underlying reasons for it.

Although several leaders from India addressed the 200th anniversary of the IOTs in Lanka on November 2, the video address of the Tamil Nadu chief minister was not telecast, he said, and wondered why it was skipped, especially after the organisers sought and obtained it.

“I was constrained to cancel my visit to Sri Lanka (to attend the meeting) on the night of November 1, as till 8.30 pm, I could not get the ‘political’ clearance from the Central government,” Thennarasu told reporters here.

With the state officials informing him of the remote possibility of receiving the clearance, he had to cancel the overseas visit and inform the organisers, who, on November 2 morning, called and requested the chief minister’s message, he said.