Jayalalithaa’s Close Advisor Booted, OSD Shantha Sheela Resigns

Santha, a another trusted advisor of Jayalalithaa, and had been chosen specially for the post by the former CM.

Shantha Sheela Nair (Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

The bureaucratic after-shocks of the political turmoil in Tamil Nadu continued on Monday, as another top bureaucrat put in her papers, two days after AIADMK General Secretary was elevated to legislative party leader.

Retired IAS officer Sh

Shantha Sheela Nair, who had been the Officer on Special Duty at the Chief Minister’s Office, resigned on Monday.

Shantha was another trusted advisor of Jayalalithaa, and had been specially chosen for the post by the former CM, after demitting her position as the Vice Chairperson of the State Planning Commission. 

For that 2011 appointment too, she had been handpicked by Jayalalithaa.

During the period of Jayalalithaa’s illness, she was responsible for overseeing the implementation of orders of the AIADMK government.

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police in the state intelligence, KN Sathiyamoorthy, has also been on leave since Saturday, reportedly based on orders. TOI quoted a senior official on the matter, who said that the 10-day leave had to be seen as extraordinary, since the IGP Intelligence would not be on leave during a transitional moment of the government, unless specifically told to do so.

Shantha’s resignation comes just three days after the resignation of three other bureaucrats, who were close to Jayalalithaa, but had not transferred their loyalties to Sasikala. 

On Friday night, the news emerged that Sheela Balakrishnan, KN Venkataraman and A Ramalingam had been shown the door. As with Shantha, Sheela had also been a crucial part of the government machinery during the period of Jayalalithaa’s illness.