With the new government formation just a few days away, speculation is rife on the likely ministerial candidates and the portfolios that are to be allotted. All eyes are especially on who would be allotted the Health portfolio with the second wave of coronavirus pandemic killing hundreds every day.
Source: PTI
Chennai:
According to information leaking out of Anna Arivalayam, finalising of portfolios for Ministers is under way and would be a mix of seasoned hands like KN Nehru, K Ponmudy, Thangam Thennarasu and EV Velu.
“Newbies, including Udhayanidhi Stalin and M Subramanian are likely to be induced into the Cabinet along with a few surprises are expected. We are not sure about who will handle the crucial health department and Thalaivar Stalin is tight lipped about the choice of Ministers even among party seniors. The role of DMK leader Duraimurugan and whether Udhayanidhi will become a Minister is still a puzzle for Arivalayam insiders,” the source said adding that three unconfirmed lists of DMK Ministers are making rounds on the social media, which includes the names of youngsters like Poyamozhi Mahesh and TRB Raja raising the eyebrows among DMK seniors, some of whom are missing from the list.
Party sources also clarified that while deputy general secretary Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan was earlier tipped to become the first woman speaker of the TN Assembly, her defeat in the April 6 polls have now opened the race for the coveted Speaker’s position in the state Assembly.
Meanwhile, the public department’s B section at Fort St George, which handles the confidential administrative details related to the CM office and Council of Ministers have also reached out to the DMK seeking the details of the new Ministers. By Thursday, the Council of Ministers, their portfolio allocation, chambers, personnel assistants, vehicles, quarters will be finalised and kept confidential till the swearing in, the official said.
Follow COVID guidelines and save lives, Stalin appeals to people
CM-elect and DMK president MK Stalin on Tuesday urged the people to strictly follow the latest guidelines issued by the state with regard to lockdown restrictions.
“People have to realise that the spread of the second wave of coronavirus is higher than the first one in terms of both in the number of increasing cases as well as deaths,” he said in a statement. Stalin’s statement came after he held a meeting with high-level government officials.
Stating that reports from other states with regard to the deaths due to coronavirus looks frightening, the DMK leader said, “people should not only be cautious and careful, but also they need to take extra care continuously. Keeping this in mind only the state government had imposed further lockdown restrictions.”
Stalin said that as the government issued fresh lockdown restrictions from May 6 to May 20, which instructed the government and private companies to function only with 50 per cent of staff, people should follow proper social distancing while commuting to offices.
“All these lockdown restrictions were imposed to benefit the people and therefore, there should be cooperation among them to break this coronavirus chain,” he said adding “without valid reasons people should not venture out and if there is a necessity, they need to wear facemasks and adopt social distancing.”
Earlier, Stalin asked Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan to send IAS officers appointed as monitoring officers, to the respective districts they were assigned for.
After winning the Assembly elections, Stalin for the second straight day held a review meeting with Chief Secretary, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, Secretaries of other departments and police officials. In the meeting, Stain asked the officials to ensure that all the guidelines issued by the state government to restrict the spread of COVID-19 should be enforced strictly.
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