Ponmudy conviction | Higher Education portfolio in T.N. re-allocated to R.S. Rajakannappan

Tamil Nadu's Minister for Higher Education & Backward Classes Welfare, R.S. Rajakannappan, re-designated following conviction & sentencing of K. Ponmudy in a disproportionate assets case.

Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Backward Classes Welfare R.S. Rajakannappan was, on Thursday, December 21, 2023, re-designated as Minister for Higher Education and Backward Classes Welfare. An official communication from the Raj Bhavan said that Governor R.N. Ravi has re-allocated the Higher Education portfolio to Mr. Rajakannappan on the recommendation of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

The re-allocation of the higher education portfolio followed the conviction and sentencing of Minister K. Ponmudy and his wife by the Madras High Court in a disproportionate assets case earlier in the day. As the Minister was awarded a three-year imprisonment (since suspended for a month), the Minister stands disqualified as a legislator, as per as per Section 8 (3) in The Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The 75-year old Mr. Rajakannappan was elected to the Assembly from Mudhukulathur constituency in Ramanathapuram district in the 2021 Assembly elections. Soon after the DMK government assumed office in May 2021, Mr. Rajakannappan was made the Transport Minister but in March 2022, he was re-designated as Minister for Backward Classes Welfare.

Mr. Rajakannappan was formerly with the AIADMK and was part of Jayalalithaa’s Cabinet in the 1990s. Later, he floated his own political outfit and subsequently joined the DMK in 2006, and was elected from Ilayangudi Assembly constituency. However, he later quit the party and also resigned as MLA. He joined the AIADMK and unsuccessfully contested against Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram in the Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency. In 2020, Mr. Rajakannappan rejoined the DMK.

The 73-year old Mr. Ponmudy is a five-time legislator and was last elected to the Assembly from the Tirukoilur constituency in the 2021 Assembly elections. The Minister for Higher Education also held the subjects of technical education, electronics and science and technology. Mr. Ponmudy’s son Gautham Sigamani is a Lok Sabha MP, elected as a DMK candidate from the Kallakurichi constituency.

With the disqualification of Mr. Ponmudy, the Tamil Nadu’s Council of Ministers is down by one and has 34 members now, including V. Senthilbalaji, who continues to be a Minister but without a portfolio.