With the impending exit of V Senthil Balaji from the council of ministers, following the supreme court ultimatum asking him to choose either his ministerial position or cancellation bail, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin is expected to carry out a minor cabinet reshuffle.

Along with Balaji, another senior Minister, K Ponmudy in the dock over hate speech, likening Saivite and Vaishanavite religious symbols akin to sexual positions, is likely to face the axe and the reshuffle is expected any time after Tuesday (April 29) when the ongoing budget session of the state assembly will conclude.

Advertisement

While Balaji holds the Electricity, Prohibition and Excise Portfolios, Ponmudy is Minister for Forests and Khadi. The apex court’s warning against Balaji and the Madras High Court taking a stern view of the hate speech by Ponmudy had caused great embarrassment to the Stalin government and their continuation in the cabinet had become untenable, DMK sources said.

Even as Balaji is preparing for his eventual exit, there is reportedly reluctance among party seniors to step into his shoes. For, the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), the monopoly IMFL retailer, under the prohibition and Excise Department, is now facing the heat from the Enforcement Directorate which had claimed to have unearthed a Rs 1000 crore scam in TASMAC.

Earning over Rs 40,000 crore annually, the portfolio was considered a cash cow but not anymore. It has lost its sheen following the ED raids on TASMAC headquarters, liquor manufacturers and bottling companies.

Interestingly, both Balaji and Ponmudy have made their re-entry into the cabinet only last year after getting reprieve from the courts. It is learnt that the DMK leadership had held discussions with legal experts who had advised Balaji to step down from the ministry well before the apex court’s deadline.

Hailing from the dominant OBC Goundar community and known for his exceptional organisational skills, he would however be elevated in the party ranks as the party czar of the Kongu region, western Tamil Nadu, party sources said.

After his incarceration – judicial custody – for over a year in a PMLA case pertaining to a cash-for-job scam when he was Transport Minister in the then Jayalalithaa government, Balaji secured bail from the Supreme Court in September last year. Prior to that, he resigned as a Minister Without Portfolio.

However, within 48 hours after walking out of prison, he was re-inducted and given the lucrative portfolios held by him earlier. Now, the time is running out for him. In the case of Ponmudy, party veteran and Villupuram strongman, he had to step down from the cabinet on being convicted and sentenced in a wealth case.

On the apex court’s stay on his sentence and conviction, he made a comeback. Known for putting his foot in the mouth very often, he had invited the ire of the Madras High Court, which had initiated suo-motu case in connection with the hate speech.

With two other senior ministers, K Durai Murugan, party General Secretary and Irrigation Minister and MRK Panneerselvam, Cuddalore strongman and Agriculture Minister, also facing judicial heat with the Madras High Court reversing the trial court discharging them in separate disproportionate assets cases, the ruling DMK has come under tremendous political and legal pressure.