All India N. R Congress chief N. Rangasamy will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of the Union Territory for the fourth time.
Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan will administer the oath of office to Mr. Rangasamy at a simple function to be held at Raj Nivas around 1.20 p.m.
As per the earlier plan, the swearing-in ceremony was scheduled to be conducted on Beach Road near the Gandhi Statue. But the administration decided to shift the venue to Raj Nivas due to apprehensions about crowd management on the Beach Road.
According to an official source, the number of invitees would be restricted to around 50 due to the pandemic for the function in Raj Nivas.
After AINRC and Bharatiya Janata Party together garnered a simple majority of 16 seats in the 30-member house in the Assembly polls, Mr. Rangasamy along with BJP leaders had met Ms. Soundararajan to stake claim to form the government.
However, it was not yet clear whether BJP members are also taking oath of secrecy as Ministers along with Mr Rangasamy. The saffron party was keen on getting Deputy Chief Minister’s post and two ministerial berths.
Mr Rangasamy while talking to media at Salem on Wednesday, however, did not give a direct reply on whether BJP’s demand for Deputy Chief Minister was accepted.
He merely said there was no precedent in the appointment of Deputy CM in UT, but he would consider the demand if the Centre created such a post.
BJP leaders, however, maintained a stoic silence on the swearing-in ceremony. In the 30 member Assembly, AINRC has 10 members, BJP 6, DMK, 6, Independents 6 and Congress 2.
