Tamil Nadu has on Thursday - December 21 witnessed a cabinet reshuffle, not because to bring new faces into the council of ministers, but because a senior minister has been convicted and imprisoned for three years after he was found guilty in a disproportionate assets case. The Madras High Court on Thursday pronounced its verdict of sentencing three-year jail term to Ponmudi, a veteran DMK leader.
72-year-old Ponmudi was also imposed with a fine of Rs 50 lakh. Along with Ponmudi, his wife Visalakshi has also been convicted and would serve incarceration. He is one of the veteran DMK leaders who's close to the party's high command. He has been one of the crucial faces of the party in north Tamil Nadu and has served as a minister during the DMK's rule in the state.
Elected from the Thirukoilur constituency in the 2021 assembly polls, Ponmudi had been serving as the Tamil Nadu Minister for Higher Education in MK Stalin's cabinet. Now, as he stands disqualified as an MLA under the Representation of the People Act, he has naturally lost his job as a minister. In the wake of his exit from the cabinet, the MK Stalin administration was pushed to shuffle the cabinet to fill the vacancy left by Ponmudi.
In the midst of fresh trouble for DMK ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the MK Stalin administration has announced that RS Rajakannappan, who currently serves as the Minister for Backward Classes Welfare, will hold the portfolio of Higher Education Ministry held by Ponmudi, as an additional charge. According to an official communication from the Raj Bhavan, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has approved Chief Minister MK Stalin's recommendation of appointing Rajakannappan as the new Higher Education Minister.
The communique read, "The Hon'ble Governor has approved the recommendation of the Hon'ble Chief Minister that the portfolios of Higher Education including Technical Education, Electronics, Science and Technology previously dealt with by Thiru K Ponmudi, be allotted to Thiru R S Rajakannappan, Minister for Backward Classes Welfare in addition to the portfolios of Backward Classes Welfare, Most Backward Classes Welfare, and Denotified Communities Welfare already held by him."
"The Hon'ble Governor has also approved the recommendation of the Hon'ble Chief Minister that the portfolios of Khadi & Village Industries Board looked after by Thiru R S Rajakannappan be allotted to Thiru R Gandhi, Minister for Handlooms and Textiles in addition to the portfolios of Handlooms and Textiles, Boodhan and Gramadhan already held by him", the communique added.
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