Do states with two capitals have two CMs, TN minister asks

MADURAI: Talks are doing the rounds that the proposal to make Madurai the second capital of Tamil Nadu is over political motives in the AIADMK to make Edappadi K Palaniswami the chief minister for the northern part of the state while deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam could be CM for the south. But when reporters sought his comment on this, minister for co-operation Sellur K Raju on Monday responded, “Some states have two or three capitals. Do they have separate chief ministers?”
Justifying this proposal by minister of revenue and disaster management and information technology R B Udhayakumar on Sunday, Raju said it was the dream of former CM M G Ramachandran to make Madurai the second capital, though he wanted to make Trichy the first capital.
“MGR told this with good intentions, but the opposition leaders such as Dr Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) refused it to tarnish his image,” the minister said.
According to the minister, Madurai has been the state’s capital for political decisions though Chennai has been the capital of the state. Madurai also has connectivity, infrastructure, and scope for industrialization among other prospects to become the second capital as Chennai’s growth is saturated.
He added that former CM Jayalalithaa too wanted to take Madurai on the growth path and so is the present CM by launching schemes and projects worth several thousand crore rupees for the city's infrastructure development.