The newly elected chief minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has revoked the appointment of his longtime astrologer to a key government role following backlash. Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, an actor-turned- politician who scored a stunning victory on his electoral debut earlier this month, had picked Rickey Randhan Pandit Vettrivel, an astrologer and numerologist with no administrative experience, to advise him in office. However, the chief minister, who is widely known just by the name Vijay, was compelled by public criticism to withdraw the appointment for the role of Officer on Special Duty after just one day. Nearly a year ahead of the state election, Mr Vettrival had interpreted Vijay’s horoscope in public interviews and videos, predicting the rise to power of his then newly launched TVK party. The astrologer previously advised the late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and reportedly had associations with senior politicians from across parties.…