Nearly a week after assuming office, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Saturday, May 16, allocated portfolios to the nine ministers who were sworn in alongside him.
According to an official press release, CM Vijay will handle the departments of Public Administration, Women and Youth Welfare, Municipal Administration, and Differently Abled Welfare.
Senior leader K A Sengottaiyan has been assigned the Finance portfolio, while S Keerthana will oversee Industries. Rajmohan has been appointed Minister for School Education, Tamil Development, Information and Publicity.
N. Anand (Bussy Anand) has been given charge of Rural Development and Water Resources, while Aadhav Arjuna will head the Public Works and Sports Development departments.
K G Arunraj has been appointed Minister for Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare. P Venkataraman will oversee Food and Civil Supplies, while R Nirmalkumar has been assigned the Energy Resources and Law portfolios.
Meanwhile, T K Prabhu has been appointed Minister for Natural Resources.
Among the ministers, Sengottaiyan is the only one to have administrative experience.
He previously held various portfolios, including Transport, Agriculture, Revenue, and Information Technology, in late CM Jayalalithaa’s cabinet.
Aadhav Arjuna is the son-in-law of lottery baron Santiago Martin. He joined Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam and took over the party’s election campaign after his suspension from Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK).
Anand, TVK’s general secretary, has been a close aide of Vijay for the past 15 years. He coordinated the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (VMI), a fan organisation for Vijay. He also served as a Congress MLA from Puducherry’s Bussy constituency between 2006 and 2011.
Minister Arunraj took voluntary retirement from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) before joining TVK last year. He was later appointed the party’s general secretary for propaganda.
Nirmalkumar had earlier worked extensively with the Information Technology (IT) wings of the Bharatiya Janata Party and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam before moving to TVK. He currently heads the party’s legal team and digital presence.
Keerthana Sampath had previously worked with political strategy firms before joining TVK. She is known as the first woman MLA from the Sivakasi constituency and the youngest legislator in the party.
Dr Prabhu, a dentist and popular Instagram personality, won from the Karaikudi constituency, where he contested against Seeman, chief of Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK).
Rajmohan, popularly known as ‘Put Chutney’ Rajmohan, is a media personality and YouTuber known for speaking about issues concerning Tamil Nadu through his videos.
Venkataramanan had closely worked with Vijay, managing his finances for several years, and was appointed TVK’s treasurer when the party was formed.
Further portfolios are expected to be allocated once the cabinet is expanded.
