Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Thursday allotted portfolios to the 23 newly inducted ministers of his Cabinet, including those from the Congress. Congress legislators S. Rajesh Kumar and P. Viswanathan have been allocated the Tourism and Higher Education portfolios, respectively.
S. Kamali, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA from the Avinashi constituency, was among the three women ministers who were inducted into C. Joseph Vijay's cabinet on Thursday. At 28, she has become one of the youngest members of the TVK cabinet after being handed the responsibility of the Animal Husbandry Department.
Kamali, who hails from Rasipuram in Namakkal district, belongs to a Scheduled Caste community. The 28-year-old homemaker’s husband runs an e-service centre, local media reports said.
A postgraduate, she developed an interest in politics and joined the TVK, becoming an active cadre, Vikatan said in a report. When she was asked to contest for the TVK from the Avinashi (reserved) constituency, it was a David vs Goliath situation, as the NDA alliance had fielded Union Minister L. Murugan from the seat. However, she defeated the BJP leader handsomely by a margin of 15,373 votes. Apart from her education, this "giant killer" tag gave her the edge over other senior women MLAs, Tamil media reports said.
S. Keerthana, who won from the Sivakasi Assembly constituency, had similarly defeated Minister Rajendra Balaji and Congress candidate Ashokan from the Sivakasi seat. Kamali is younger than Keerthana by a year, reports show.
Other young members of the Vijay cabinet, including Aranthangi’s Mohamed Farwaaz, Tambaram’s Sarathkumar, and Kinathukadavu’s Vignesh, have also been given opportunities in the Cabinet.
Earlier, Periyakulam MLA Sabari Ayyangaran and Kamali had set a record by becoming some of the youngest MLAs elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Daily Thanthi had said.
Vijay revised some of the portfolios and, accordingly, he has taken charge of Poverty Alleviation and re-allocated the Women's Welfare portfolio he held to newly inducted minister K. Jegadeshwari.