How Beela Rajesh emerged as Tamil Nadu's COVID troubleshooter

When Tamil Nadu came under the attack of COVID-19, the state’s health minister C Vijayabaskar took it upon himself to reach out to the public and media via social media. He was in the forefront of the battle against coronavirus and led a team of officials in preparing hospitals for COVID-19 patients and identifying others as test centres.

His work elevated him in the eyes of the public, who thought the situation was under control and the spread of the disease has been contained to the maximum level. Memes comparing Vijayabaskar to Bodhidharma (a Jataka Tales-inspired character played by actor Surya in the film 7aam Arivu), implying that only the minister can save the lives at this point of time, started doing the rounds on social media.

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But the narrative suddenly saw a shift when many from Tamil Nadu who attended the Tablighi Jamaat, a major COVID-19 cluster now, tested positive for the disease, instantly raising the state’s share of cases.

Enter Beela Rajesh

The troubleshooting face of Vijayabaskar was immediately replaced by that of Beela Rajesh, the secretary of the health department, who came to the forefront.

Beela started addressing the media, visited hospitals, supervised all COVID-19 preparedness and regularly updated the information on her Twitter handle.

Her active role in the fight against COVID-19 has garnered her appreciation from all walks of life. She has also found admirers in veteran politicians like Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram, who on March 4 took to Twitter to appreciate her efforts.

“I am impressed by the clarity and confidence displayed by TN Health Secretary when briefing the media. Congratulations to her,” tweeted Chidambaram.

While the Congress leader’s appreciation of Beela raised many eyebrows, many have attributed it to the association of her mother to the party. Besides, her father LN Venkatesan, was also a former DGP of Tamil Nadu.

Beela’s mother Rani Venkatesan, a Congress leader contested and won in the 2006 Assembly election from Sathankulam constituency in Thoothukudi district. In 2016, she contested from Sri Vaikuntam constituency from the same district but lost to AIADMK candidate SP Shamnuganathan.

Born in 1969 in Chennai, Beela completed her MBBS from Madras Medical College. In 1992, she got married to Rajesh Doss, an IPS officer, who is now currently serving as an ADGP of Prohibition Enforcement Wing of Tamil Nadu Police. In 1997, she cleared the UPSC exams and became an IAS officer. Initially she was given a Bihar cadre posting, but in 2003 she was transferred to Jharkhand and in 2019 appointed as Tamil Nadu’s health secretary.

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It is being said that Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has personally entrusted her to lead from the front to ensure transparency in COVID-related measures.

Media reports also say Vijayabaskar chose to withdraw and push Beela to the forefront after he was criticised by senior ministers for stealing the limelight.