Tamil Nadu CM Vijay Expands Cabinet; Rajesh Kumar, Vishwanathan Sworn In

Tamil Nadu CM Vijay expands cabinet; Rajesh Kumar and P Vishwanathan sworn in as ministers

Chennai, May 21

Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath to the newly inducted ministers.

This comes after the Chief Minister recommended inducting 23 MLAs into the Council of Ministers, a proposal that was approved by the Tamil Nadu Governor.

The total strength of the Council of Ministers is 35. With the latest expansion, 33 ministers have now taken the oath. Of the total ministerial composition, 21 MLAs are from the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and 2 are from the Congress. Chief Minister Vijay, along with nine other MLAs, had earlier taken oath on May 10 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.

Congress leaders welcomed the cabinet expansion and lauded the formation of what they described as a "secular progressive government."

Speaking to reporters, Congress leader Girish Chodankar said that the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu clearly reflected support for a "coalition government."

"Our cadres were fighting for having a share in power...today the people of Tamil Nadu have voted for a coalition govt...they wanted a secular, progressive govt," he said.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President K Selvaperunthagai also welcomed the decision and highlighted the party's representation in the cabinet.

"We got 40/40 seats in Tamil Nadu, it's a 100% strike rate, and now we got two ministers. Today is Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Day. He sacrificed a lot," he said.

Furthermore, Senior Congress leader Su. Thirunavukkarasar also welcomed the move and expressed gratitude towards Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay.

"It is a welcome move. I appreciate and thank Vijay for giving this offer and also Rahul Gandhi for accepting it," he said.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Minister Aadhav Arjuna had said that Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay wanted the state cabinet to function "like one family" and ensure representation to all alliance partners supporting the government.

Arjuna said the alliance led by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) remained intact and that further expansion would be announced soon. "The Chief Minister wants the cabinet to function like one family," he said.

"The Chief Minister wants the parties that extended support to be represented in the cabinet," Arjuna added.

The 2026 Tamil Nadu elections were registered in history books after the state declared an unprecedented mandate for Vijay. While TVK ended up winning 108 out of 234 seats in its maiden political stint, it was for the first time in the history of state politics that both legacy 'Dravidian' parties were ousted from power.

However, Vijay couldn't attain majority on its own and was later offered support by Congress (5), CPI-M (2), CPI (2), VCK (2) and IUML (2), which were earlier the allies of Secular Progressive Alliance led by DMK.

Vijay, often referred to as the 'Thalapathy', showed a crowd-pulling ability in the election rallies, which many compared to actor-turned-politician and former CM MG Ramachandran. While Tamil Nadu has had a long history of actors entering and conquering politics, the State awaited another star to step up in the line after Captain Vijayakanth.

Although the TVK was launched in 2024, he has been looked at as a social worker and has not been apolitical, given his films, which dealt with drug menace, corruption and other socio-political issues. While there has been speculation of him entering politics since 2009, Vijay has involved himself in social work."

— ANI