Chennai, Apr 27: Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on Sunday accepted the resignations of controversy-stricken Electricity, Prohibition and Excise Minister V. Senthil Balaji and Forests and Khadi Minister Dr K. Ponmudy, on the recommendation of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, and reallocated their portfolios to other ministers.

"The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has recommended to the Governor of Tamil Nadu to accept the resignation of V. Senthilbalaji, Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise and Dr K. Ponmudy, Minister for Forests and Khadi. The Governor has approved the recommendation," a Raj Bhavan communique said.

The Governor also accepted the Chief Minister's recommendation to reallocate their portfolios, it added.

Transport Minister S.S. Sivasankar has been given the additional portfolio of Electricity, while Housing and Urban Development Minister S. Muthusamy has now been designated as the Minister for Housing and Prohibition & Excise. Milk & Dairy Development Minister R.S.Rajakannappan will be the new Forests and Khadi Minister.

Chief Minister Stalin has also recommended the induction of T. Mano Thangaraj, the MLA from the Padmanabhapuram Assembly constituency, into the Cabinet, and the Governor has approved the recommendation, the communique said.

The swearing-in ceremony of Thangaraj will be held at the Raj Bhavan at 6 p.m. on Monday.

Senthil Balaji's resignation came after the Supreme Court, in a tough message to the senior DMK leader last week, told him to choose between his ministerial post and bail in the money laundering case linked to an alleged cash-for-jobs scam.

A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and A.G. Masih cautioned Balaji that if he did not step down from his minister post, it would recall its bail order, noting that the top court had made a mistake by ignoring the judgments against him.

"We grant bail, and the next day, you go and become a minister! Anybody will be bound to be under the impression that witnesses will be under pressure," the top court had remarked in an earlier hearing, clarifying that its judgment granting bail required no interference on merits.

The Enforcement Directorate had, on June 14, 2023, raided Balaji's house and other places in Chennai, Karur, and Coimbatore and interrogated him about a job for a cash scam while he served as the Transport Minister in the AIADMK-led government. After several hours of interrogation, Balaji was arrested and sent to judicial custody.

Even as the opposition demanded the immediate removal of Balaji from the ministry, Chief Minister Stalin did not succumb to the pressure. However, Balaji finally tendered his resignation on February 12, 2024, eight months after his arrest and ahead of his bail plea hearing in the Madras High Court. After the Supreme Court granted him bail, Balaji walked out of Puzhal Central Prison after 450 days and was inducted again as minister on September 29 last year.

On the other hand, Ponmudy had sparked off a major row with his controversial and vulgar remarks made at a party meeting earlier in April.

The remarks, reportedly made during a DMK workers’ meeting in Chennai, were perceived as deeply offensive towards the Shaivite and Vaishnavite communities, sparking widespread outrage, including criticism from within his party.

The DMK removed him as its Deputy General Secretary on April 11.

The Madras High Court had also taken notice of his remarks.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh on April 17, questioned Ponmudy regarding his derogatory public speech against Saivites, Vaishnavites, and women, and sought to know what criminal action had been initiated against him by the state police.

The judge posed the questions during the hearing of a suo motu revision petition initiated in 2023 against Ponmudy’s acquittal in a disproportionate assets case.

Expressing displeasure over the minister’s remarks, Justice Venkatesh noted that such deprecatory comments against women and religious groups could not be dismissed as mere slips of the tongue, especially when video evidence circulating on social media suggested they were made with full consciousness.

--IANS

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