Tamil Nadu: More trouble for EPS? Vanniyar caste MLAs ask for better representation in Cabinet, want rejig

Thevars and Gounders dominate the Tamil Nadu cabinet. Lawmakers belonging to the Vanniyar caste want their community to be better represented.

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E Palaniswamy (Photo: PTI)
E Palaniswamy (Photo: PTI)

In Short

  • CM Palaniswami himself is a Gounder
  • His deputy, O Panneerselvam, is from the Thevar community
  • SC-ST AIADMK lawmakers, too, want ministers to be drawn from their ranks

AIADMK lawmakers belonging to the Vanniyar caste want their community to be better represented in Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami's Cabinet, a group dominated by Thevars and Gounders. They are now asking for a reshuffle, even as Tamil Nadu watches with bated breath to see what fate has in store for 18 TTV Dhinakaran camp MLAs disqualified by Speaker P Dhanapal.

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Palaniswami himself is a Gounder, while his deputy, O Panneerselvam, is from the Thevar community.

"Amma had the habit of reshuffling (her) Cabinet every six months, which gave (an) equal chance for (all) MLAs to become a minister. But this gang have been ministers for almost six years now", an AIADMK leader said.

Only a month ago, 20 lawmakers from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC-ST) held a meeting before AIADMK factions led by Palaniswami and Pannerselvam called a truce and sealed a merger.

This group of MLAs, too, wants ministers to be drawn from its ranks.

In fact, former AIADMK chief VK Sasikala's brother Dhivakaran recently suggested that Speaker Dhanapal, the first Dalit ever to be chosen for the post, should replace Palaniswami as chief minister.

BE PATIENT, SAYS PALANISWAMI

As a possible trust vote looms, Edappadi Palaniswami has reportedly met each of these groups separately at his residence, and asked them to remain patient until the floor test is complete.

He reportedly made the same plea to them at a recent meeting of legislators at the AIADMK's headquarters.

But it's not just the Vanniyar and SC-ST lawmakers he's worried about. VK Sasikala, TTV Dhinakaran's aunt, is a Thevar, and MLAs from that community could jump ship anytime.

VIDEO: This report records the events that took place in the wake of the Palaniswami-Panneerselvam merger, a turning point in Tamil Nadu politics after Jayalalithaa's death.