Ending the exile of 59 years, the Congress party is set to join the Tamil Nadu Cabinet as two of its MLAs are set to take oath as ministers in the CM Vijay-led government on Thursday.
AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal announced on Wednesday that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved the induction of Congress MLAs Rajesh Kumar and P Vishwanathan into the Tamil Nadu cabinet led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.
“INC President Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the induction of INC MLAs Adv Rajesh Kumar and Thiru P Vishwanathan into the Tamil Nadu cabinet led by CM Thiru Vijay, and they will be taking oath as Ministers tomorrow,” Venugopal said in a post on X.
Calling it a “historic occasion”, Venugopal said the Congress was joining the Tamil Nadu cabinet after a long gap of 59 years.
“I convey my best wishes to them, we are confident that they will deliver on the hopes and aspirations of the people of Tamil Nadu, and will work to realise the bold vision of welfare and pro-people governance laid down by LoP Rahul Gandhi ji,” he added.
From 1952 to 1967, the Congress ruled Tamil Nadu, then known as Madras state, under chief ministers C Rajagopalachari, K Kamaraj and M Bhaktavatsalam. The first provincial election after Independence took place in 1952.
However, after the DMK came to power in 1967, the Congress remained out of the Tamil Nadu government despite aligning at different times with both the DMK and the AIADMK. Between 1967 and 2026, the party never became part of the state government.
During the 2006-11 DMK regime, the Congress unsuccessfully sought a share in power.
The Congress currently has five MLAs in the Tamil Nadu Assembly after contesting the recently concluded Assembly elections in alliance with the DMK.
However, the Congress walked out of the DMK-led alliance following the election results declared on May 4 and extended support to actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay’s TVK government.
Vijay’s TVK fell short of a majority in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, following which the Congress backed the party in government formation.
Source: India Today
