All you need to know about the Puducherry cabinet swearing-in

After over a month of Puducherry CM N Rangasamy swearing-in as the CM of the Union Territory of Puducherry, the rest of the Cabinet is set to be sworn-in on Sunday.

In the elections, the AINRC won 10 seats, while BJP emerged victorious in six seats and its strength in the Assembly now stands at 9, thanks to the Centre’s power to appoint three nominated members. The DMK and independent candidates won six seats each, while the Congress won just two seats.

A Namassivayam, K Lakshminarayanan, C Djeacoumar, Chandira Priyanga and A K Sai J Saravana Kumar will be sworn-in as Ministers in the cabinet.

This is also the first time the BJP is part of a Ministry in the UT's cabinet.

Why the delay in the cabinet formation?

Though Rangasamy took oath as the CM of Puducherry on May 7, it took over a month for the members of the cabinet to be decided upon and sent to President Kovind for approval.

The AINRC, which is led by Rangasamy, accused the BJP for the delay in the cabinet formation, alleging that the party was demanding the post of the Deputy Chief Minister - a post that Puducherry never had before.

The BJP was backing A Namassivayam, who had defected from the Congress, for the post. However, the BJP later said that it would not pursue the matter of the Deputy CM post "for the present" as its nominee. Embalam R Selvam, was being accommodated as the Speaker of the Assembly.

Another reason for the delay is that Rangasamy himself had been hospitalised due to Covid-19.

But with the issues between the AINRC and the BJP resolved as of last week, the UT cabinet is finally set to be sworn-in.

What to expect from the new cabinet?

Puducherry is set to get its first woman minister in 40 years with the AINRC's Chandira Priyanga set to be sworn in. The last time Puducherry had a woman minister was during 1980-83, when late Congress leader Renuka Appadurai held the Education portfolio in the M D R Ramachandran (DMK)-led coalition ministry.

The BJP is also going to be getting two ministerial berths in the cabinet, with A Namassivayam and A K Sai J Saravana Kumar being the saffron party's ministers in the UT. This is aside from the post of the Speaker, which will be assumed by Embalam R Selvam.

The swearing-in ceremony will be held at 2.30 pm on Sunday in front of Raj Nivas, the office cum residence of the Lt Governor. The total strength of the Ministry would now be six, including the Chief Minister.

(With agency inputs)