Since the Governor was camping at Madurai, the sources said that he would return to Chennai on Sunday and then decide on the time and date for effecting the reshuffle that would see the induction of V Senthil Balaji into the Ministry and elevation of Minister for Sport Affairs Udhayanidhi Stalin as Deputy Chief Minister.
Speculations were also rife on some other new additions to the Ministry and probably the dropping of one or two. But changes in portfolios would be definite, the sources said.
The political grapevine has been abuzz with the cabinet reshuffle for quite some time but attributing the delay to the release of Senthil Balajai from prison. Now that he had come out on bail, it is just a matter of days before he returns to his old room in the Secretariat that had been lying vacant since his arrest and incarceration.
Senthil Balaji, it is learnt, had gone to his home town Karur and would be returning to Chennai on Sunday. After his release from Puzhal prison on Thursday evening, Senthil Balaji stayed back in a hotel in Chennai, which he is believed to consider as a mascot that brought good luck to him, to meet Chief Minister M K Stalin on his return from New Delhi.
It was while staying in that particular hotel that Senthil Balaji is said to have received the first news of his nomination to contest in the Assembly elections a long time ago, kick-starting his career as a MLA and then a Minister. He had also received such good tidings while being a guest in that hotel, sources said.
