The Chief Minister, who hails from Edappadi in Salem district, is fondly called as ‘Edappadiyar’ in party circles. Former minister and MLA ‘Thoppu’ ND Venkatachalam unveiled the name board in the presence of a large number of party cadre and residents.

The newly-created ‘Edappadiyar Nagar’ has about 60 houses developed over the last one year.

“They were facing water woes as new connections were not given by the district administration due to shortage of water. In a bid to address the water shortage issue, the Chief Minister sanctioned funds for implementation of Kodiveri Combined Drinking Water Scheme. An overhead tank with three-lakh litre capacity is being built near the Edappadiyar Nagar to supply water under the Kodiveri scheme. Also, Perundurai Town Panchayat will benefit the most through the implementation of Athikadavu Avinashi water scheme. Hence, it was decided to name the residential area after the Chief Minister in a thanksgiving gesture,” said Venkatachalam.

The former minister also said that it was just a casual decision to name the locality after the Chief Minister.

“The people were looking to name the residential colony and when I suggested this, they agreed wholeheartedly. It was a collective decision and there was no objection from even a single person,” he added.

‘Edappadiyar Nagar is located adjacent to ‘Thoppu’ Palayam, the native of Venkatachalam. The rival factions in the party, however, feel that the MLA has been making political maneuvers to grab the attention of the Chief Minister and cement his position in the party amidst his known rivalry with Minister KC Karupannan ahead of the assembly polls next year .