In a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan today (May 21), the Tamil Nadu Governor administered the oath of office to 23 new ministers: 21 from Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and two from the Congress.
This expansion has taken the total strength of the Council of Ministers in Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s government to 33, including the Chief Minister himself. This marks Tamil Nadu’s first genuine coalition government in the post-independence era, ending the long era of single-party Dravidian dominance.
The TVK government under Chief Minister Vijay has inducted seven Dalit ministers, the highest number ever in the state’s history. Six of them were elected from SC-reserved constituencies. The seven Dalit ministers are:
Seven Dalit ministers
Rajmohan (Egmore SC)
S Kamali (Avinashi SC)
V Gandhiraj (Arakkonam SC)
P Mathan Raja (Ottapidaram SC)
Logesh Tamilselvan (Rasipuram SC)
P Viswanathan (Congress – General Constituency)
K Thennarasu (Sriperumbudur SC)
This surpasses the previous record of four Dalit ministers in the outgoing DMK government: CV Ganesan, N Mathiventhan, N Kayalvizhi Selvaraj, and Dr Govi Chezian.
'Dawn of coalition politics'
For nearly six decades, Tamil Nadu politics had revolved around the DMK and AIADMK. The 2026 Assembly elections broke this duopoly when Vijay’s TVK, born out of his two-decade-old Vijay Makkal Iyakkam network emerged victorious. To obtain the numbers, TVK formed a coalition, primarily with the Congress, along with allies like VCK and IUML.
Vijay has given prominent positions to those who stood with him for over 20 years in the Makkal Iyakkam. Close friend and popular cine star Srinath from Thoothukudi was among those who took oath. The cabinet also reflects broad social inclusion: 4 women ministers, 7 Christians and 1 Muslim (Mohammed Parvez from Aranthangi).
Congress leaders welcomed the development. Senior leader Girish said the induction was a long-cherished dream for Congress workers and urged the new ministers to uphold Kamaraj’s legacy.
Praveen Chakravarthy described it as “the dawn of coalition politics in Tamil Nadu” and a new beginning for Congress after nearly 60 years.
Notable omissions, regional equations
No AIADMK rebels were inducted into the cabinet. No VCK or IUML MLAs took the oath today.
The two remaining slots (out of a maximum of 35) are reportedly reserved for them in the next expansion. Thiruvallur district, despite providing nine MLAs to TVK, has not received a ministerial berth yet.
Chennai dominates with seven ministers (nearly one-fifth of the cabinet), followed by Namakkal with three. Ministers hail from only 18 out of Tamil Nadu’s 38 districts.
