Vijay Expands Tamil Nadu Cabinet; Congress Returns to Government: See Full List Here

New Tamil Nadu Chief Minister ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay on Thursday announced the portfolios of his 23 newly inducted ministers in the expanded Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) cabinet. This takes the strength of the Tamil Nadu cabinet to 33, including the Chief Minister.

Article 164(1A) of the Constitution limits the size of a state cabinet to 15% of the assembly strength. In case of the 234 member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the maximum number of ministers allowed is 35. This leaves 2 spots vacant for future expansion.  With rumours that the VCK and IUML may also join the cabinet, the remaining vacancies may not stay open for long.

List of Ministers and Portfolios

·       K.A. Sengottaiyan – Revenue and Disaster Management

·       Srinath – Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare

·       S. Kamali – Animal Husbandry

·       C. Vijayalakshmi – Dairy Development

·       R.V. Ranjithkumar – Forests

·       Vinoth – Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

·       Rajeev – Environment and Climate Change

·       P. Rajkumar – Housing and Urban Development

·       V. Kanthiraj – Cooperation

·       P. Madhan Raja – MSME

·       K. Jegatheeswari – Social Welfare

·       S. Rajesh Kumar – Tourism

·       M. Vijay Balaji – Handlooms, Textiles and Khadi

·       D. Lokesh Tamilselvan – Commercial Taxes and Registration

·       A. Vijay Tamizhan Parthiban – Transport

·       Ramesh – Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments

·       P. Viswanathan – Higher Education

·       R. Kumar – Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology

·       K. Thennarasu – Welfare of Non-Resident Tamils

·       V. Sampathkumar – Backward Classes Welfare

·       J. Mohamed Parvaaz – Labour Welfare and Skill Development

·       D. Sarathkumar – Human Resources Management

·       N. Maria Wilson – Finance, Planning and Development

·       K. Vignesh – Prohibition and Excise

Congress Returns to TN Cabinet

The Congress ended a 59-year absence from the Tamil Nadu cabinet as two of its members became ministers in the TVK government. S Rajesh Kumar was allocated the Tourism portfolio while P Vishwanathan was allocated the Higher Education department.

The last time congress was part of the government in Tamil Nadu was in 1967 when M Bhaktavatsalam was the Chief Minister from the party. After that Dravidian Politics as envisaged by C Annadurai took a stranglehold over the state’s politics. The DMK and their arch-rivals the AIADMK took turns in power and the congress was relegated to the periphery.  

The development even as the Congress party’s seat count in the assembly fell from 18 to just 5. The Party was allied with the DMK.