M K Stalin to be sworn in as Tamil Nadu CM on May 7

DMK President M K Stalin will take oath as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on May 7 at a simple ceremony in Raj Bhavan due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation. He was duly elected as the leader of the DMK Legislature Party at its meeting on Tuesday evening.

DMK general secretary Durai Murugan chaired the meeting and announced the election of Stalin as the Legislative Party leader. With this, Stalin and senior party leaders will meet Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday and stake claim to form the government.

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“Our leader will be sworn-in as Chief Minister on Friday (May 7) in Raj Bhavan. It will be a low-key event,” a senior DMK leader told DH. After being elected as the DMK Legislative Party leader, Stalin paid respects at the memorials of party founder C N Annadurai and his father M Karunanidhi.

Sources said Stalin is likely to firm up the names for his cabinet by Wednesday or Thursday, with party leaders hoping that the ministry will be a mix of young faces and experienced seniors. The DMK is coming to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years and there is intense lobbying for ministerial positions in the party.

Party I-T wing chief P T R Thiaga Rajan, Anbil Mahesh, who hails from a traditional DMK family and shares excellent rapport with Udhayanidhi Stalin, and former Chennai Mayor Ma Subramanian are some of the leaders who are likely to be made ministers for the first time. Seniors like K Ponmudy, K N Nehru, I Periyasamy, and former ministers Thangam Thennarasu, and Geetha Jeevan are also likely to be inducted into the cabinet.

DMK has won 133 seats on its own, while its allies have emerged victorious in 26 seats. Since the DMK government will assume office during a pandemic, there will be no time to settle down – Stalin has already begun chairing Covid-19 review meetings with Chief Secretary Rajiv Ranjan and other officials.

The new government has multitude of issues to contend with like controlling the spread of Covid-19, ramping up vaccination drive, attending to poor fiscal health of the state, and fulfilling a slew of promises made in the election manifesto.

Keeping Covid-19 cases under check, swinging into action to keep the medical infrastructure ready for any third wave and accelerating the vaccination drive – TN has one of the lowest numbers – would be the biggest challenges for the new dispensation. The state added over 21,000 cases on Tuesday and hospital beds, including those created during the pandemic, are filling up fast.