AINRC-BJP coalition strengthens in Puducherry, MLA P R N Thirumurugan becomes Minister

Puducherry: The AINRC-BJP coalition government in Puducherry got a new minister, sources said on Tuesday, indicating that the MLA from Karaikal North constituency P R N Thirumurugan has been added to the cabinet led by Chief Minister N Rangasamy.

Official sources said that a notification of the Union Home Ministry issued on March 1 stated that the President appointed Thirumurugan as a Minister in the Puducherry government with effect from the date he was sworn in.

His appointment will fill the vacancy which arose after the only woman minister S Chandira Priyanga, the AINRC MLA from the Neduncadu constituency in Karaikal, was removed from the cabinet in October last year. She held the portfolios of Transport, Adi Dravidar Welfare, Housing and Art and Culture.

By this, the representation of Karaikal in the ministry will be maintained, the sources said.

The 52-year-old Thirumurugan is the son of the former Congress MLA from the Union Territory, P R Nalamaharajan, who represented the then Cottuchery constituency in Karaikal. Thirumurugan defeated the then PCC leader of Puducherry, A V Subramanian, in the 2021 assembly polls.

After Thirumurugan`s induction, the strength of the cabinet would be restored to six, including the Chief Minister. The date of his swearing-in would be decided in a day or two, sources said.