Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has expanded his cabinet for the second time since assuming office in May 2021. According to an official release from the Raj Bhavan Tuesday, Dr. T.R.B. Rajaa will be sworn in as a new member on 11 May at 10.30 am.
Rajaa is a three-time legislator from Mannargudi and the son of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP and party treasurer T.R. Baalu.
The statement said, “Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has recommended to the Governor of Tamil Nadu to induct Dr. T.R.B. Rajaa, in the Council of Ministers. The Governor has approved the recommendation.”
It added that the governor has also approved the CM’s recommendation to drop S.M. Nasar, minister for milk and dairy development, from the council of ministers.
Rajaa, who is a member of the state planning commission, will be the 35th minister of the state. With this, the state assembly, as per the Tamil Nadu Assembly rules, will have the maximum approved strength of the council of ministers — 15 per cent of the total number of members in the house.
Nasar’s removal comes after two incidents. One was related to the disruption of supply of Aavin milk to households in the state in March due to an issue with contract workers. Another incident took place in January this year when the minister was caught on camera throwing a stone at a DMK worker who was delayed in bringing a chair for him.
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Cabinet reshuffle?
DMK sources suggest that there may also be a portfolio reshuffle for some ministers on the day of Rajaa’s induction into the cabinet.
According to them, Dr P. Thiaga Rajan (PTR) may be stripped of his finance portfolio in the upcoming reshuffle. The minister has been at the center of a political controversy after two audio clips of him speaking critically about the DMK’s first family were circulated by the state BJP.
Earlier this month, during his programme Ungalil Oruvan-Bathilgal — a question-and-answer show aired regularly on the YouTube channels of the DMK and Stalin — the CM had called the audio files “cheap politics”. PTR was also initially listed as one of the key speakers at a public meeting in Madurai to mark the DMK government’s completion of two years in power. However, he was later removed from the final list of speakers.
Party sources also said that industries minister Thangam Thenarasu is likely to be given the finance and human resources portfolio that was held by PTR, who, in turn, will likely replace Mano Thangaraj as information technologies minister.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)