Tamil Nadu: The cabinet led by Chief Minister Vijay in Tamil Nadu is set to undergo an expansion on Thursday. In this regard, a swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Governor’s House at 10:00 AM on Thursday, during which Governor R.V. Orlekar will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers. This cabinet expansion marks the first such exercise undertaken 10 days after the formation of the state government.
According to sources, on this occasion, legislators from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)—along with two legislators from the ally Congress, Rajesh Kumar and P. Viswanathan—will be sworn in as ministers. With these appointments, the participation of coalition partners within the state cabinet is expected to be further strengthened.
In the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, no single party secured a clear majority, resulting in a ‘hung assembly’ situation in the state. According to the election results, the BJP won 108 seats, the DMK won 59 seats, and the AIADMK won 47 seats. In the absence of a majority, political equations continued to shift, and the process of forming alliances among various parties gained momentum.
Immediately after the election results were declared, the DMK’s ally, the Congress—which had won 5 seats—announced its conditional support for the ‘Thaweka’ alliance. Subsequently, the Left parties—each of which had secured 2 seats—extended their support to this alliance from the outside. Continuing this sequence of political support, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Nadu (VLTU) also pledged their support to the alliance, thereby completing the process of government formation.
Following this, on May 10, Vijay was sworn in as Chief Minister, and nine of his cabinet colleagues were simultaneously inducted as ministers. Now, taking place 10 days later, this first cabinet expansion is being viewed as a significant step toward further strengthening the government’s functioning.
According to political analysts, the inclusion of coalition partners in the cabinet is part of a strategy aimed at maintaining the government’s stability and striking a balance among the various constituent parties. It is anticipated that administrative decisions and policy initiatives may gain momentum in the coming days.
With this cabinet expansion, alliance dynamics in Tamil Nadu politics have once again come to the forefront of discussion, and all eyes are now fixed on the roles of the new ministers and the government’s upcoming policies.
