Chennai: Udhayanidhi Stalin will be designated as the Deputy Chief Minister of the State and handed over an additional portfolio, Planning and Development, at the major Cabinet reshuffle of the DMK government, in which four new Ministers will be sworn in at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday afternoon at 3.30 pm.
While V Senthil Balaji, Govi Chezhiaan, R Rajendran and S M Nasar would be sworn in by the Governor and inducted into the Council of Ministers, the Chief Minister M K Stalin had recommended the dropping of three Ministers, T Mano Thangaraj, Gingee K S Masthan and K Ramachandran, a notification from Raj Bhavan on Saturday said.
The Governor has also accepted the Chief Minister’s recommendations for the reshuffle of portfolios among the Ministers. Accordingly Mano Thangaraj’s Milk and Dairy Development will be handed over to R S Rajakanappan.
Among the other changes made in the portfolios are: Minister for Higher Education K. Ponmudy shifted to Forests, Siva V Meyyanathan getting welfare of Backward Classes, most backward classes and denotified tribes, Kayalvizhi Selvaraj going to human resources and D Mathiventhan taking charge of Adi Dravidar welfare.
Finance and Human Resources Minister Thangam Thennarasu will be Minister for finance and environment and will be in charge of pollution control board and climate change, in addition to archeology.
The elevation of Udhaynidhi Stalin has been on the cards for a long time. It was even expected to be announced before the Chief Minister went on an official tour of the USA.
None of the earlier Chief Ministers of the State had a deputy in recent memory and this is the first time that a designation of that sort is being made.
