Tamil Nadu cabinet expansion: 23 MLAs, including two from Congress, take oath | Check full list

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay expanded his Cabinet on Thursday (May 21), with the induction of 23 MLAs into the Council of Ministers, including two from the Congress. Of the 23 newly inducted ministers, 21 are legislators from the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), while the remaining two belong to the Congress party, an ally of the government. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath to the new ministers during a ceremony held at the Lok Bhavan in Chennai.

Two Congress MLAs in the Vijay Cabinet 

Congress MLAs S Rajesh Kumar and P Viswanathan took oath as ministers today. Their inclusion marks the first time since 1967 that the Congress party has formally joined the Tamil Nadu government as the Dravidian majors--DMK and AIADMK, have never accommodated allies, including the Congress that has aligned with both parties at different points of time.

The first non-Congress government in post-independent India was ushered in by Dravidian stalwart and DMK founder CN Annadaurai in 1967, when he led the party to a stupendous win against the then ruling Congress.

Viswanathan was elected from Melur (Madurai), and Rajesh Kumar won from Killiyoor segment (Kanyakumari).

Here's the full list of MLAs

1. A Srinath (TVK)
2. Kamali S (TVK)
3. C Vijayalakshmi (TVK)
4. RV Ranjithkumar (TVK)
5. R Vinoth (TVK)
6. Rajeev (TVK)
7. B Rajkumar (TVK)
8. V Gandhiraj (TVK)
9. Mathan Raja  P (TVK)
10. Jegadeshwari  K (TVK)
11. Rajesh Kumar  S (Congress)
12. M Vijay Balaji (TVK)
13. Logesh Tamilselvan  D  (TVK)
14. Vijay Tamilan Parthiban A  (TVK)
15. Ramesh  (TVK)
16. P Viswanathan  (Congress)
17. Kumar R  (TVK)
18. Thennarasu K  (TVK)
19. V Sampath Kumar  (TVK)
20. Mohamed Farvas J  (TVK)
21. D Sarathkumar  (TVK)
22. N Marie Wilson  (TVK)
23. Vignesh K  (TVK)

No IUML or VCK MLA in Cabinet 

Two key allies of the ruling TVK--- the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK)-- were not included in Thursday's cabinet expansion, despite both parties playing a crucial role in the government's numbers in the Assembly with two MLAs each.

CM Vijay had extended invitations to both the IUML and the VCK, which had earlier announced support for the government from outside.

While the IUML has decided in principle to join the government, the party stayed away from the current expansion, stating that it has not yet finalised which of its two MLAs would be inducted as ministers. The VCK has also agreed to join the cabinet and has already submitted the name of one MLA for ministerial inclusion to the TVK leadership.

Under constitutional provisions, CM Vijay can have a maximum of 35 ministers in his cabinet, which is 15 per cent of the Assembly strength. With the induction of 23 new ministers, the strength of the Vijay-led government has now risen to 32, leaving three vacant berths that could potentially be allotted to allies such as the VCK and IUML in the future.

Also Read: 'No AIADMK rebels in Cabinet': TVK reassures allies amid warning by CPM and VCK 

Also Read: BJP slams Rahul Gandhi after Vijay 'commemorates' LTTE founder Prabhakaran: 'For slice of power'