Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami is unlikely to transfer any of his portfolios to Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam or other Ministers while he goes on his official tour of the U.K. and the U.S. during August 28-September 7.
A senior Minister and officials of the State government pointed out that as Mr. Palaniswami will be on a State visit to the West, he can handle any matter of urgency that may arise when he is away. In such an eventuality, he will sign on the file concerned wherever he is and have the decisions conveyed to officials in Chennai through facsimile.
The sum and substance of the explanation provided by the Minister and the officials is that there is no need for the Chief Minister to transfer his portfolios, even temporarily, to any of his colleagues. In the political tradition of the State as well, at least in the last 50-odd years, no instance can be shown wherein any Minister was designated as “acting Chief Minister” to handle subjects during the absence of the Chief Minister.
Apart from the usual subjects — Public, Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Forest Service, General Administration, District Revenue Officers, Police and Home — held by his predecessors, Mr. Palaniswami is in charge of Public Works, Irrigation, Highways and Minor Ports. His foreign trip has been cleared by the Prime Minister’s Office, and he has received a diplomatic passport.
On Tuesday, a top official of the State government checked with his counterpart in Andhra Pradesh to ascertain the arrangements made by the neighbouring State during the visit of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to the U.S. The information provided to the Tamil Nadu government official is that in A.P. too, no portfolios of the Chief Minister have been allocated to other Ministers. As for the arrangements previous Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu had during their overseas trips, the Minister said one had to take into account that those days, there hadn’t been much technological development for communication.
An official familiar with the functioning of the Central government said that at the Centre, the Cabinet Minister ranked no. 2 will ordinarily chair meetings of the Cabinet when the Prime Minister goes abroad.
