COIMBATORE: Two legislators from Coimbatore district -- Kinathukkadavu MLA Vignesh K and Coimbatore North MLA V Sampathkumar -- have been allocated ministerial berths in the TVK-led government, marking the first time in 15 years that the district has more than one ministerial representation.
Vignesh is the Minister for Prohibition and Excise and Sampathkumar holds the Backward Classes Welfare portfolio. Before induction into the cabinet, both served as the party secretaries of their respective districts, and they have also been supporters of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay for nearly two decades, right from the fan club days.
Minister Vignesh (38) runs a CCTV camera installation firm and resides at Machampalayam near Sundarapuram. He holds a BSc in Computer Science. Minister V Sampathkumar (47) runs a dairy products agency and resides at Ganapathy. He holds a BBA and an MBA.
Interestingly, with the induction of Vignesh into the cabinet, Kinathukkadavu becomes the district's only constituency that has experienced ministerial representation under the rules of DMK, AIADMK, and TVK. Earlier, DMK's M Kannappan and AIADMK's S Damodaran had served as ministers. In the 2026 Assembly elections, Vignesh, despite being a new face, defeated AIADMK's incumbent MLA S Damodaran and DMK's Sabari Karthikeyan -- grandson of KV Kandaswamy, former three-time AIADMK MLA of Kinathukkadavu -- on their home turf.
Before bifurcation, the undivided Coimbatore district had three ministers in 2001 -- S M Velusamy (Palladam constituency), P V Damodharan (Pongalur), and Pollachi V Jayaraman (Pollachi). Jayaraman served as a minister from 2001 to 2002 and 2004 to 2006, while Velusamy served from 2001 to 2006, and Damodharan from 2001 to 2006.
During AIADMK's 2011 tenure, S Damodaran from Kinathukkadavu and S P Velumani from Thondamuthur were appointed ministers -- two ministers from the district at once. While Velumani's stint was brief, he returned as a minister in 2014 and held the post till 2021. In the same period, Pollachi V Jayaraman served as the deputy speaker, but was not inducted into the cabinet, making S P Velumani the only minister from the district.
However, in the last five years under the DMK rule, Coimbatore had no ministers, as all 10 constituencies were won by the NDA. To oversee development works, the DMK had appointed ministers from other districts -- R Sakkarapani, Senthil Balaji, and later Muthusamy -- as ministers in-charge for Coimbatore. The absence of a full-time minister was seen as a setback for the district, despite its political significance in the state. After a long gap, the expectation -- the direct representation for the district to the ministry -- has been fulfilled in this TVK-led government.
Calling more than one ministerial representation from the district a "good sign", Kongu Global Forum director J Sathish said, "Apart from their portfolios, if the ministers, who are young and have a good knowledge about the district, work for its welfare, it will definitely develop the district. That is what the people expect from them, and they should be representatives of the district at the Assembly."