MK Stalin stakes claim to form govt in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI; DMK president MK Stalin will be sworn in as Chief Minister of the State on Friday at a formal function to be held in Raj Bhavan. Having been elected as leader of the legislative party, Stalin met Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday at Raj Bhavan, and handed over the letter of support from the DMK MLAs. As he staked claim, the Governor invited him to form the government and have a swearing-in ceremony on Friday morning.

Raj Bhavan authorities handed over a formal letter in this regard to Stalin. This will be the sixth government to be formed by the DMK in the State since 1967. CN Annadurai had formed the first DMK government in 1967, and M Karunanidhi had formed four governments in 1971, 1989, 1996 and 2006. Stalin will be the 26th Chief Minister of the State and the third of the DMK.

According to sources, only around 250 invitees are permitted for the swearing-in-ceremony due to Covid-19 restrictions. And the ministers’ list, who will be taking the oath along with MK Stalin, will be out on Thursday. The Chief Minister-designate had urged Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan to establish a war room to coordinate with districts over Covid-19 measures such as availability of beds, oxygen, medicines and others. On Wednesday evening, the Chief Secretary and authorities met Stalin at his residence and convened a meeting to review Covid prevention measures.

Meanwhile, the State has imposed new restrictions, which are taking effect from Thursday, to curb the spread of Covid -19 second wave. To monitor the new restrictions, the government has deployed nine IPS officers across the State.

The monitoring officers are, HM Jayaram for Chennai city, MC Sarangan for Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts, V Vanitha for Vellore, Tirupattur, Ranipet and Tiruvannamalai districts, M Pandian for Viluppuram, Cuddalore and Kallakuruchi districts, R Dhinakaran for Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Namakkal districts, Sanjay Kumar for Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Erode and The Nilgris districts, Amaresh Pujari for Tiruchy, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Pudukkottai and Karur districts, J Loganathan for Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagappattinam and Mayiladuthurai districts, Shailesh Kumar Yadav for Madurai, Virudhunagar, Dindigul, Theni, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts, S Murugan for Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari and Tenkasi districts.