Central TN gets limited representation in Vijay cabinet

Trichy: The Cauvery delta and central Tamil Nadu regions have received limited representation in chief minister C Joseph Vijay's cabinet, with only three ministerial berths allotted so far and six districts left without representation.Among the nine districts in the region, only Trichy, Thanjavur and Pudukkottai secured one minister each. Srirangam MLA Ramesh Srinivasan, 31, from Trichy district was appointed minister for Hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR&CE). Kumbakonam MLA Vinoth Ravi, 32, from Thanjavur district was given the agriculture and farmers welfare portfolio, while J Mohamed Farvas from Pudukkottai was appointed minister for labour welfare and skill development. The representation is expected to increase after the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) accepted TVK's invitation to join the cabinet and nominated Papanasam MLA A M Shahjahan, 57. Shahjahan is likely to be allotted the minorities welfare portfolio, which is currently vacant. His induction would raise Thanjavur's representation to two ministers and increase minority representation from the region. However, six districts — Karur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Ariyalur and Perambalur — do not have a single minister in the cabinet. Party functionaries attributed the low representation to TVK's limited electoral success in the central region. Of the 41 assembly constituencies across the nine districts, TVK won only 12 seats. Trichy accounted for six of them, while Thanjavur and Pudukkottai returned two MLAs each. Karur and Perambalur elected one MLA each, while TVK failed to win any seat in Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai and Ariyalur. Despite winning six of the nine seats in Trichy district, the party allocated only one ministerial berth to the district. Vijay had also vacated the Trichy East constituency after the elections while retaining Perambur in Chennai. Thuraiyur MLA M Ravishankar was appointed deputy speaker. However, residents and party supporters in Trichy had expected at least two ministers from the district, considering its political importance and status as the largest district in central Tamil Nadu. During the previous DMK regime from 2021 to 2026, both Trichy and Pudukkottai had two ministers each, while Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Karur and Perambalur had one minister apiece.