Additional portfolios for Fisheries Minister

Finance is among the slew of responsibilities entrusted to him

Fisheries Minister and AIADMK strongman D. Jayakumar was given a slew of additional portfolios on Thursday.

According to an official communiqué from Raj Bhavan, Mr. Jayakumar will hold the portfolios of Planning, Legislative Assembly, Elections and Passports, Personnel and Administrative Reforms and Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Training), while also holding on to the Fisheries Minister post. The portfolios allotted to Mr. Jayakumar were earlier held by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

Prominent role

Party sources indicate that Mr. Jayakumar would have a large role to play if the AIADMK — currently under the control of V.K. Sasikala and her nephew and deputy general secretary T.T.K. Dinakaran — is to win its acid test in the form of the by-election in R.K. Nagar, which has been necessitated by former chief minister Jayalalithaa’s death.

Mr. Jayakumar has been the face of the party for four decades in north Chennai. The other prominent face, E. Madhusudhanan, has sided with the rival faction headed by former chief minister O. Panneerselvam.

With Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa planning to float a party on Friday and expected to contest in the R.K. Nagar by-poll, the AIADMK now has to face the by-poll on multiple fronts, apart from the visible public resentment against Ms. Sasikala and her family members taking control of the party.

Tough contest

“The R.K. Nagar by-poll is crucial for the party. The DMK is waiting for a chance to defeat us. If the OPS faction and Deepa join hands, we have a real fight on our hands,” says a party senior, underscoring the need to strengthen Mr. Jayakumar’s hand in the party.

The grapevine in the AIADMK is that some of the senior figures, like Dindigul C. Srinivasan and K.A. Sengottaiyan, are expecting additional responsibilities to go with their present portfolios. At present, Mr. Sreenivasan, the number-two in the Cabinet, has been entrusted only with the Forests Department, and would like to handle portfolios like Public Works or Highways, both of which are, at present, held by the Chief Minister himself.

Moreover, the Ministers and MLAs from the southern districts would have to be accommodated with some key portfolios as there is a perception in the party that its leaders from the western districts are being accorded greater prominence, sources say.