Tamil Nadu CM Stalin to rejig cabinet again as SC’s ultimatum forces Min Senthil Balaji to resign
Days after the Supreme Court issued an ultimatum to Tamil Nadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise, V. Senthil Balaji is all set to relinquish his ministership. Balaji is likely to step down before April 28, the deadline set by the apex court.
Senthil Balaji is one of the senior ministers in Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s cabinet. Balaji languished in prison for 471 days, after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the cash-for-jobs scam case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Supreme Court granted him bail on September 26, 2024, after a long incarceration. Three days after being released on bail, Balaji was reinstated into the cabinet on September 29, 2024, and was entrusted with the same portfolios he was holding earlier. The ED immediately approached the Supreme Court seeking to cancel his bail saying he might influence the witnesses in the case and it might affect the trial.
However, highly placed sources in the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam say that the judiciary is under extreme pressure from its Delhi bosses. In fact, when the court granted him bail using the provisions under Article 21, it did not categorically say that he should not assume charge as the minister. The court imposed bail conditions like signing in the ED office on Monday and Friday, cooperating with the crime branch which is probing the case, and appearing in the MP/MLA special court for hearing during the trial. While Balaji has been fulfilling all these bail conditions, the court on April 23 asked him to choose between ministership and freedom.
Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay S. Okha, who is hearing the case had said, “The entire hearing proceeded on the footing that he is no longer minister. We will accept our mistake.” This observation by the court, seems to be the sole reason for Balaji choosing to resign, as Justice Okha meant that he can reverse his own orders.
A powerful leader from West Tamil Nadu, Balaji is the district secretary of DMK’s Karur unit and the in-charge of Coimbatore constituency. An active field worker and a young face of the party in the Kongu belt, Balaji’s activities had made the DMK progress in this part of Tamil Nadu during the past four elections.
Cabinet reshuffle
With Balaji all likely to quit, a major cabinet reshuffle is in the cards in Tamil Nadu. Earlier, when he was incarcerated, his electricity, prohibition and excise portfolios were given as additional charges to Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu and Housing Minister S. Muthusamy respectively. However, this time, the same arrangement is unlikely with elections fast approaching and the excise department losing its sheen. And, Thennarasu too, with his hands tied with finance and archaeology departments may not accept to take an additional charge.
This will be the sixth cabinet rejig in the past four years since Stalin took charge as the chief minister.
Sources say the PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan could be assigned the additional charge of electricity, while the excise department might be handed over to the party's Dindigul strongman, I. Periyasamy, as an additional charge, or to M.P Saminathan, who is currently holding the information department; Saminathan is also from the western region.
Sources also say that Stalin might decide to drop forest minister K. Ponmudy following the Madras High Court’s adverse orders against him for his derogatory speech. If Ponmudy is dropped, Saminathan might be assigned forest portfolio, sources say.
India