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In a first in 59 years, Tamil Nadu to get Congress ministers, 2 MLAs to take oath today
Congress MLAs Rajesh Kumar and P Vishwanathan will be a part of Tamil Nadu government, AICC's KC Venugopal said.
Two Congress MLAs in Tamil Nadu will be taking oath as ministers in Vijay's cabinet tomorrow, party general secretary KC Venugopal said on Wednesday. MLAs Rajesh Kumar and P Vishwanathan will be a part of Tamil Nadu government, Venugopal said.
“This is a historic occasion for us, as the Congress joins the Tamil Nadu cabinet after a long gap of 59 years,” Venugopal wrote in a post on X as conveyed his best wishes to the two leaders.
Earlier in the day, the TVK had requested its alliance partners on to join the chief minister C Joseph Vijay-led cabinet, party general secretary Aadhav Arjuna said.
The minister for Public Works Department (PWD) and sports development said it is the intention of the chief minister that the leaders and parties operating on the basis of social justice should join.
“The chief minister would formally announce it (the details about legislators joining the cabinet). He has emphasised that the alliance parties should join the cabinet. Similarly, the Left parties have decided to offer outside support to us. We will always respect that. This government will be a government for social justice and we stand firm on the secular policy,” Arjuna told media persons.
“The party (TVK) has invited Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief Thol Thirumavalavan to take part in the cabinet. We humbly request that our Islamic brothers of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) should also be in the cabinet. We have emphasised this to the leaders”, he said.
“The chief minister feels that the cabinet should be like a family. We have expressed our wish that everyone whether it is the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi or the IUML or the Congress to take part in the cabinet,” he said.
The Congress, with its five MLAs, was among the first parties to extend support to Vijay-led TVK after it lacked the majority strength to form government following the counting of Assembly election votes on May 4. Through the course of almost a week, other parties joined in and offered support to the actor-politician's party, making it possible for him to form a government in Tamil Nadu after an impressive debut poll performance.
Meanwhile, trouble seems to be brewing for newly sworn in chief minister C Joseph Vijay as he received a warning from one of his coalition government partners — the CPI(M) — against accommodating rival AIADMK in the state Cabinet which was formed following days of struggle to garner the required support after the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won 108 seats in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, 10 short of the majority mark.
