TAMIL NADU: Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office to 23 new ministers at Raj Bhavan in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai on Thursday (May 21) morning.
The ceremony began at 10am. Following the expansion, 33 ministers have now taken oath in Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s cabinet. The Council of Ministers has a sanctioned strength of 35.
Of the 33 ministers, 21 belong to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). Two are from the Indian National Congress.
Vijay, along with nine ministers, had first taken oath on May 10 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.
Gender: A state record
For the first time in Tamil Nadu’s 74-year political history, four women have been inducted into the cabinet.
Earlier, first-time MLA S Keerthana had taken office as Industries Minister. She is the first woman MLA from Sivakasi, a constituency that had only returned male MLAs for seven decades.
Three more women were included in Thursday’s expansion: S Kamali from Avinashi, C Vijayalakshmi from Kumarapalayam, and K Jegadeshwari from Rajapalayam.
During the 2011-2016 AIADMK government led by J Jayalalithaa, three women had served as ministers.
Sathyavani Muthu became the first woman minister in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet in 1967 under Chief Minister CN Annadurai.
Caste: Seven SC ministers
Seven members from Scheduled Caste communities have been given representation in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet under Chief Minister Vijay.
The two Congress MLAs, Rajesh Kumar (Killiyoor constituency) and P Viswanathan (Melur constituency), also took oath on Thursday. Congress is rejoining the state government after 59 years.
Mohamed Farvas J from the Aranthangi constituency represents the Muslim community in the expanded cabinet.
N Marie Wilson from Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency is among those sworn in from a minority background.
TVK general secretary Aadhav Arjuna had earlier stated that the government would follow a secular and social justice-based political approach.
He said the TVK had expressed willingness to include representatives from the VCK, IUML, and Congress in the cabinet.
Coalition composition
The TVK-led government took shape after the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
TVK won 108 of 234 seats, falling short of the majority mark. The government subsequently received support from Congress, CPI-M, CPI, VCK, and IUML.
The 23 ministers sworn in on May 21 represent constituencies spread across the state, from Thoothukudi and Ottapidaram in the south to Velachery, Tambaram, and Arakkonam in the north.
Age profile: A young cabinet
The 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly features a record number of first-time MLAs and young leaders under the age of 35. Several of the ministers sworn in on Thursday are first-time MLAs.
Logesh Tamilselvan D (Rasipuram), Vijay Tamilan Parthiban A (Salem South), M. Vijay Balaji (Erode East), and Vignesh K (Kinathukadavu) are among the younger faces in the expanded cabinet. - The Statesman/ANN
