Congress Returns to TN Govt After 59 Years; CM Vijay Expands Cabinet

CHENNAI: Congress made a comeback into govt in Tamil Nadu ending its 59-year exile, with two of its legislators among 23 new ministers sworn in, as CM C Joseph Vijay Thursday expanded his cabinet in an exercise that rewarded loyalists, accommodated allies and signalled attempt at rewriting social engineering in state politics. With 21 TVK ministers taking oath along with Congress’s P Viswanathan and S Rajesh Kumar, who were allocated higher education and tourism, TN now has 33 ministers. With the remaining two slots kept for IUML and VCK, there will be no room for the antiEPS AIADMK faction. In a significant political message, Vijay inducted seven Dalit ministers, the highest representation for the community in TN’s history. The number is expected to rise to eight once VCK joins the ministry. Vijay’s cabinet with 2 Brahmins bucks state’s political trend The expansion also marked another departure from the state’s political trend, with Vijay inducting two Brahmins into the cabinet. While Mylapore MLA P Venkataramanan was made a minister in the first batch that was sworn in on May 10, Srirangam legislator S Ramesh was made the HR&CE minister on Thursday. There are four women ministers in the cabinet. Though the state had a similar number of women ministers in the past, the TVK cabinet will have youngest women ministers — Kamali, 28 (animal husbandry), and Keerthana, 29 (industries). This cabinet is also one of the youngest, with nine ministers less than 40 years old and two less than 30 years. Only four ministers are aged above 60, with K A Sengottaiyan being the oldest at 78 years. First-time MLA representing R K Nagar, Marie Wilson, has been made finance minister, replacing Sengottaiyan who has now been given revenue. Vijay’s friend Srinath has been allocated fisheries, while long-term functionary of Vijay’s fan association, Vinoth, has been made the agriculture minister.