R ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, APR 27
After getting the SC, Madras HC knuckles Tamil Nadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition, and Excise V. Senthil Balaji and Minister for Forests and Khadi K. Ponmudy have resigned from the M K Stalin-led state cabinet and the Governor has accepted the same, the Raj Bhavan said on Sunday.
Governor R N Ravi has approved Chief Minister Stalin’s recommendation to accept their resignation, a Raj Bhavan communique said.
- Governor R N Ravi has approved Chief Minister Stalin’s recommendation to accept their resignation, a Raj Bhavan communique said
- T. Mano Thangaraj, a former minister who represents the Padmanabhapuram Assembly constituency, will be sworn in at a ceremony to be held at the Raj Bhavan on Monday, April 28
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has recommended inducting T. Mano Thangaraj, a former minister who represents the Padmanabhapuram Assembly constituency, into the Cabinet. He will be sworn in at a ceremony to be held at the Raj Bhavan on Monday, April 28.
According to a Raj Bhavan communique, Sivasankar has been given the electricity portfolio in addition to the transport portfolio he has been holding. Sivasankar has been designated as Minister for Transport and Electricity.
Similarly, Minister for Housing and Urban Development S. Muthusamy has been given the prohibition and excise portfolios, which were previously under Senthil Balaji, in addition to his existing portfolios. He has been designated as Minister for Housing, Prohibition, and Excise.
Minister for Milk and Dairy Development R.S. Rajakannappan has been given the Forests and Khadi portfolios, previously overseen by Ponmudy. Rajakannappan has been redesignated as Minister for Forests and Khadi.
Senthil Balaji, facing ED probe, had been asked by the Supreme Court on Wednesday to make a choice “between post and freedom” as it warned him of cancelling bail if he did not step down as minister.
Ponmudy had courted a major controversy over his Shaivite-Vaishnavite remarks made in the context of a sex worker, drawing widespread criticism, even as the Madras High Court later initiated proceedings on its own on the matter.
Though he had been removed from a key party post, there were demands from opposition parties and other quarters, for his ouster from the cabinet.
