In a significant political development, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has carried out a major cabinet reshuffle following the resignations of senior ministers V Senthil Balaji and Dr. K Ponmudy.
As part of the changes, Minister SS Sivasankar has been assigned the additional responsibility of the Electricity portfolio, while senior leader S Muthusamy will also oversee Prohibition and Excise. RS Rajakannappan, formerly Minister for Milk and Dairy Development, has been redesignated as Minister for Forests and Khadi, reflecting a significant realignment of key departments.
In addition, the Chief Minister has recommended the induction of T Mano Thangaraj, MLA from Padmanabhapuram, into the state cabinet.
The swearing-in ceremony of Mano Thangaraj would be held at Raj Bhavan on Monday evening and he would be allotted the same portfolios of Milk and Dairy Development earlier held by him.
Senthilbalaji had no option but to resign in the wake of the Supreme Court ultimatum or else his bail would be reversed and had to go back to prison. Arrested in June 2023 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case in the the cash-for-jobs scam when he was Transport Minister in the AIADMK government of late J Jayalalithaa (2011-15), he continued as a Minister without portfolio, and eventually resigned in February 2024 only to return to the cabinet on getting bail in September that year, signalling his importance in the party.
Known for putting his foot in the mouth, Ponmudy is facing the heat with the High Court taking a stern view of the derogatory speech made by him for likening Shaivite and Vaishnavite religious symbols to sexual positions at an event organised by the rationalist Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK).
The First Bench of Chief Justice KR Shriram and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq, while listing the matter to June 19, had ordered notice to the State government seeking their response by June 5, to the PIL, filed by an advocate seeking to disqualify Ponmudy (already stripped of party post following backlaksh from both within and the Opposition parties) from holding any constitutional post following his speech against Saivites, Vaishnavites and sex workers.