Updated by admin on
Wednesday, May 21, 2014 09:21 AM IST
Chennai:
The man who said, "If Amma (Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa) retains you in her fold, you are Pillaiyar (Lord Ganesa). If she throws you out, you are cowdung", is himself down in the dumps. It was a hard day for Minister K P Munusamy, who first suffered the ignominy of losing two key party posts on Tuesday. The day ended with Munusamy being dropped from the ministry as well.
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday dropped K P Munusamy from the State Cabinet as well.
Accepting the recommendation of the Chief Minister, Governor K Rosaiah relieved Munusamy. Rural Industries Minister P Mohan will look after the portfolios held by Munusamy — Labour, Population, Employment and Training, Newsprint Control, Census and Urban and Rural Employment, said a Raj Bhavan communique here.
Earlier in the day, Jayalalithaa axed Munusamy from the AIADMK disciplinary action committee and
replaced him by appointing Highways Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy.
Munusamy has been dropped as though being a Vanniyar, he could not prevent PMK leader Ambumani Ramadoss winning from the Vanniyar-dominated Dharmapuri constituency.
AIADMK's Alandur candidate, VNP Venkataraman, who won the by-election in Alandur Assembly constituency, took oath as a Member of the Tamil Nadu State Assembly in Jayalalithaa’s presence. Venkataraman took the oath in the Chamber of Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal.
The strength of the AIADMK in the Assembly has thus gone upto 152 (including the Speaker). The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of former presidium chairman of DMDK, Panruti S Ramachandran, who later joined the AIADMK. Three new ministers were also sworn in at the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday evening -- S P Velumani (Municipal Administration and Rural Administration), Agri SS Krishnamoorthi (Agriculture) and S Gokula Indira (Handlooms and Textiles).
