Soon after former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and his erstwhile Cabinet colleague Ma Foi K. Pandiarajan were inducted into the Cabinet headed by Edappadi K. Palaniswami at a hurriedly organised swearing-in ceremony at the Raj Bhavan on Monday, he headed to the Secretariat to assume charge as Deputy Chief Minister. Mr. Palaniswami and a host of Ministers, including those who had levelled bitter allegations against him in the last six months, greeted Mr. Panneerselvam as he assumed charge.
Mr. Panneerselvam was allocated a different room from the one he had earlier occupied as he now holds the post of Deputy Chief Minister, the first such post in an AIADMK government. As Chief Minister during the period December 2016-February 2017, Mr. Panneerselvam had refused to use late Jayalalithaa’s cabin and worked out of his Finance Ministry cabin.
Speaking to reporters after taking charge, Mr. Panneerselvam said, “The merger of the two camps has taken place, and the cadre of the party and the people of the State have expressed happiness. I too have the same happiness.” He sidestepped a question posed by a reporter on the corruption allegations he had made against the Palaniswami government a few weeks ago.
The induction of Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Pandiarajan has taken the number of Ministers in the State to 33. A total of 35 Ministers can be accommodated in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet, i.e., 15% of the House strength.
Mr. Panneerselvam has been given the plum portfolios of Finance, Housing, Rural housing and Housing Development, Slum Clearance Board and Accommodation Control, Town Planning, Urban Development and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. While Finance was handled by Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar after Mr. Panneerselvam revolted, the other portfolios belonged to Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan.
A few months ago, when Mr. Jayakumar had offered to resign as Finance Minister to accommodate Mr. Panneerselvam in the event of a merger, the latter’s supporters had reacted angrily to the suggestion. Former School Education Minister Ma Foi K. Pandiarajan was allocated the lightweight portfolio of Tamil Official Language and Culture, held by Sevvoor S. Ramachandran, and Archaeology held by K.A. Sengottaiyan.
Portfolio reshuffle
In the portfolio reshuffle, Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan has been given Animal Husbandry department while Youth Welfare and Sports Development held by Mr. Sengottaiyan has been allotted to P. Balakrishna Reddy whose department was given to Mr. Radhakrishnan. Mines and Minerals held by M.C. Sampath has been given to Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam.
This is the second time in recent history that Tamil Nadu has a Deputy CM, after M.K. Stalin in 2009.
