Media played Opposition role: Chennai Mayor

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on August 30, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/Media-played-Opposition-role-Mayor/308910.html

CHENNAI: Hailing the media, both electronic and print, Mayor M Subramanian on Monday said it played the role of the opposition party for the DMK-led Chennai Corporation Council for the last five years.

Addressing the councillors during the monthly council meet at Ripon Building here, Subramanian said, “When the DMK council took over the Chennai Corporation and mayor post about five years ago, reporters had questioned how the DMK-majority House would function democratically when the council does not have a real opposition like the AIADMK to criticise the policies.” 
“My reply to them then was though we have opposition parties such as the Congress, PMK, CPI and CPM in the House, we see the media as the real opposition party that would make us tread the right path for better administration,” Subramanian recalled.It was right to make the media the Opposition as it helped the Council in all these five years to run a better and people-friendly administration, he said.Recalling the instances when media highlighted civic issues, including water stagnation, potholes on roads and non-burning of streetlights, which could not be checked by either the Mayor or the members due to their various engagements, Subramanian said it  helped them rectify the problems almost immediately.