Stalin feels a crown of thorns is placed on his head, minister says

CHENNAI: Medical and family welfare minister Ma Subramanian on Tuesday said chief minister M K Stalin had confessed to his family and friends that the crown placed on his head was a crown of thorns and not of flowers given that he assumed office during the raging Covid pandemic.
Intervening the debate on the motion of thanks to the governor's address to the assembly, Subramanian said the chief minister was being questioned by his visitors in the recent past about missing his “charming smile of a hero.”
“The CM has been telling his family and friends that the crown placed on his head was of thorns. It is not a crown of flowers. He says he has taken charge during the difficult times and how could he be happy as the state registered 26,465 cases when he assumed office on May 7,” the minister said. Stalin felt very sad when the cases increased to 36,184 in ten days, he added.
The pandemic had saddened the entire world and the country. “The chief minister was largely shocked by 36,184 cases. He not only held discussions with the officials but repeatedly wrote letters to the Prime Minister and called him over the phone for oxygen supply. He deputed DMK parliamentary party leader T R Baalu to Delhi to get help from the ministries concerned,” the medical minister said, detailing the steps taken by the chief minister in bringing down the cases to 7,427 on Monday.
The minister said that Stalin had donned a PPE kit during his visit to a hospital in Coimbatore to encourage and support the medical fraternity.