CHENNAI: Perhaps for the first time in decades, the Union Cabinet will not have a single minister from Tamil Nadu. The principal ally of BJP-led NDA in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK has not been given any berth in the council of ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speculations were rife that senior AIADMK Rajya Sabha member R Vaithilingam and Theni MP P Ravindranath Kumar would be accommodated in the team.
Suspense continued till the last moment, only to end in disappointment. “Due to some internal problems in AIADMK, it was not included this time. When there is an expansion of the Cabinet, AIADMK might be given a chance,” BJP sources said. Neither of the Dravidian parties was part of Modi’s first term in the government. However, Pon Radhakrishnan, the lone BJP candidate to win from Tamil Nadu last time, was made a Union Minister. BJP has not won a single seat in the State this time.
The only consolation, perhaps, is the presence of former defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and
former foreign secretary S Jaishankar, who have roots in the State but did not represent it in the polls.
Compared to this, there were four ministers from Tamil Nadu in the UPA-II government and a substantial 7 ministers from the State in UPA-I. Following a reshuffle in July 2011, there were 25 ministers from South in the Cabinet then, compared to the current ministry which has around seven.