Amid reeling through the Coronavirus outbreak with grounds of soaring cases and rapid spread across the state of Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has been rolling out the governance with the crucial target of retaining the power in the 2021 legislative elections, the first legislative elections he is going to face as the Chief Minister.

Although Tamil Nadu has been ranked second in India with the most number of COVID-19 cases and with no clue of when the normalcy would be restored, the Chief Minister has been steering the government mechanism in moving ahead through implementing various projects and carpeting more investments than any other state in India.

On Monday, Tamil Nadu has signed eight Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) that would bring Rs 10,399 crore of investment in various sectors and it would also generate over 13,000 jobs. According to the reports, the Tamil Nadu government has signed 17 MoUs between April and June 2020 that would bring in Rs 18,236 crore - the highest in the country during the first quarter of the current financial year, exemplifying that Tamil Nadu has been emerging as the top investment destination. 

Along with the investments, the Chief Minister has also been touring the districts to implement and inaugurate various development projects. He has toured the western and central districts and expected to cover up the remaining districts in the coming days, which officials aren't happy about. The officials close to the Chief Minister have advised him to refrain his travel and public appearances in the wake of the COVID-19 spread. However, he assured them he was healthy and taking adequate precautions. 

During the high-level meeting, the Chief Minister, according to the reports, said to the Chief Secretary that Coronavirus cannot stop and paralyze the government. A senior official attached to his office stated that the Chief Minister hopes to stay active ahead of the legislative assembly polls and he wishes to inaugurate various projects and to make it operational before the 2021 elections and various projects are currently at the verge of getting completed. 

A senior journalist has said that the Chief Minister has a full hope that COVID-19 vaccine would be in place to treat the pandemic when the state nears the next legislative elections and the factors such as improving the economy, creating jobs, development, and welfare of the people would be crucial for the ruling party when it hits the campaign trail as he believes that these factors would be judged by the people ahead of entering the polling stations. 

With the view of that, the journalist adds, the Chief Minister has decided not to refrain from implementing the projects and from bringing in more investments as these would be playing a significant role in reviving the economy. The reports say the authorities are monitoring his health conditions after four senior ministers in his cabinet had tested positive for COVID-19. 

Last week, Edappadi Palaniswami has undergone COVID-19 testing which turned to be negative. He doesn't have any comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension and reports close to his circle say he has been taking necessary precautions as he has been eyeing to move his administration forward amid faltering due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It must be recalled that last month, one of his private secretaries had succumbed to the virus. 

As of Tuesday, Tamil Nadu has reported 1,80,643 cases so far of which 51,344 are active, 1,26,670 have been recovered, and 2,626 had succumbed to the virus.