Tamil Nadu Cabinet Rejig: Udhayanidhi To Swear In As Deputy CM, Senthil Balaji To Return To Council Of Ministers | Details

Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on Saturday approved Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's recommendations for a cabinet reshuffle including promoting Udhayanidhi Stalin, the CM's son, to the position of Deputy Chief Minister.

This reshuffle also saw the return of V. Senthil Balaji to the council of ministers, just two days after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a high-profile money laundering case.

Tamil Nadu Cabinet Rejig

Which Ministers Were Dropped?

Three ministers, including Mano Thangaraj who held the Dairy Development portfolio, Gingee KS Masthan who held Minister of Minorities Welfare and Non-Resident Tamils Welfare portfolios and K Ramachandran who was the Minister of Tourism have been dropped.

New Ministers In Cabinet

Senthil Balaji will be inducted in council of ministers and along with him, Dr Govi Chezhiaan, R Rajendran and S M Nasar will also be added.

Udhayanidhi Stalin will be new Deputy Chief Minister along with the Minister of Planning and Development portfolio that he was already holding.

Minister for Higher Education, Dr K Ponmudy will now hold the position of Minister for Forests.

According to a Raj Bhavan release, CM Stalin "recommended to the Governor of Tamil Nadu (Ravi) to allot the portfolio of Planning and Development to Thiru Udhayanidhi Stalin, Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development, in addition to his existing portfolios and be designated as Deputy Chief Minister."

The Governor has approved the recommendations, it said, adding, the swearing-in ceremony of the ministers designate will be held on Sunday at 3.30 pm in Raj Bhavan.

Balaji had resigned in February this year, months after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a cash-for-jobs scam.