Senthil Balaji, Ponmudy resign as Tamil Nadu ministers amid controversy; Mano Thangaraj makes comeback

Chennai: Tamil Nadu ministers V Senthil Balaji, who was asked by the Supreme Court to choose between his post and bail, and K Ponmudy, who is in the dock over derogatory remarks on Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and women, resigned on Sunday night, paving the way for a minor reshuffle of the cabinet by Chief Minister M K Stalin.

T Mano Thangaraj, who was dropped from the cabinet in September 2024, makes a comeback after seven months. He will be sworn in as a minister by Governor R N Ravi at 6 pm at the Raj Bhavan on Monday.

Senthil Balaji’s Electricity and Excise, under whose control the hefty state-run liquor retailer Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) comes, have been allotted to Transport Minister S S Sivasankar and Housing Minister S Muthusamy respectively.

Ponmudy’s Forest portfolio has been allotted to Khadi Minister R S Rajakannappan as an additional charge, a press communique from the Raj Bhavan said.

The portfolio for the minister-designate Thangaraj is yet to be announced. The rejig came on the eve of the next hearing in Balaji’s case in the apex court.

Balaji, who was released on bail by the Supreme Court in a case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on September 26, 2024, after he spent 15 months in prison, was re-inducted into the cabinet three days later, and allotted the Electricity and Excise portfolios which he held before his incarceration.

Balaji is likely to be drafted for the party work ahead of the 2026 assembly polls in the politically crucial Western region, which has always been a tough terrain for the DMK.

Ponmudy, who was the no.6 in the pecking order of the Cabinet and a senior DMK leader, fell out of the good books of the top brass after his speech at an event on April 6 stoked a major controversy by comparing Hindu Shaivite and Vaishnavite religious symbols to sexual positions. He was immediately sacked as a deputy general secretary of the DMK but continued to remain in the Cabinet.

Since the apex court gave no option, Balaji’s resignation was imminent, DMK leaders told DH, adding that it was decided to seek his resignation so that his expertise can be used in electioneering.

Balaji has been credited with the party’s stupendous performance in the urban local bodies in 2022 and is likely to be entrusted with overseeing elections in the western region.

The apex court had on April 24 asked Senthil Balaji to choose between his post and bail – the Karur strongman was arrested in June 2023 by the ED for his alleged involvement in a cash-for-jobs scam during his tenure as Transport Minister in the 2011-2016 AIADMK government.

He aligned with AIADMK rebel T T V Dhinakaran after J Jayalalithaa’s death and joined the DMK in 2018.