33-member Cabinet for M K Stalin as he takes oath as CM today

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President M K Stalin will be sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Friday morning. His cabinet, a mix of experienced leaders and newcomers, will have 33 ministers, including two women.

The swearing-in ceremony of the new government will be held at the Raj Bhavan at 9 am. Governor Banwarilal Purohit will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Stalin and his cabinet colleagues, whose portfolios have already been announced.

Immediately after swearing-in as Chief Minister, Stalin will head straight to Fort. St. George, the seat of power of the state government, and will assume office at his chamber, which has been spruced up.

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In the evening, Stalin will meet district collectors via video conferencing to review the Covid-19 situation. The new Chief Minister is likely to make few announcements with regard to Covid-19 immediately after assuming charge.

In his Cabinet, Stalin has gone for an interesting mix including Party General Secretary Durai Murugan (Water Resources Minister), Principal Secretary K N Nehru (Municipal Administration), I Periyasamy (Co-operation), K Ponmudy (Higher Education), and M R K Panneerselvam (Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare). R Gandhi will be the Handlooms and Textiles Minister.

Former Chennai Mayor Ma Subramanian, a marathon runner, the Health Minister, has his task cut out as Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the state. Among the newcomers, the prominent are P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan, a former banker who has worked with some of the top financial institutions like Lehman Brothers and Standard Chartered, who will be the new Finance Minister.

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Anbil Mahesh, who hails from a traditional DMK family in Tiruchirapalli and a close friend of Udhayanidhi Stalin, has been given the important School Education portfolio, while Thangam Thennarasu, who earned praise for his work as education minister during 2006-2011, is the new Industries Minister. Udhayanidhi is a first-time MLA and his name does not figure in the Cabinet list.

Former AIADMK members — V Senthil Balaji, S R Rajakannappan, and S Muthusamy – have been allotted Electricity, Transport, and Housing and Urban Development portfolios.

While many districts were ignored for ministerial positions, the Western region where the DMK fared poorly this election has got three ministers, in a move aimed at growing the party in the Kongu belt. Also, Sakkarapani, who hails from Gounder community that is dominant in the western belt, has been made a minister, though he represents a seat in south Tamil Nadu.

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Stalin has also renamed a few departments and introduced new nomenclature. For the first time, there is a department for Climate Change, Farmer's Welfare, Human Resources Management and Non-Resident Tamils Welfare.

Geetha Jeevan (Social Welfare and Women Empowerment) and Kayalvizhi Selvaraj (Adi Dravidar Welfare) are the two women ministers, while the minorities are represented by S M Nasar (Dairy Development) and K S Masthan (Minorities Welfare).

In a statement on Thursday, Stalin asked his party cadres to watch the swearing-in on television and to take care of their health.