Tamil Nadu ministers V Senthil Balaji, K Ponmudy resign

Scroll.in

28-04-2025

Tamil Nadu ministers K Ponmudy and V Senthil Balaji submitted their resignations from the state's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government on Sunday, The Hindu reported.
The Supreme Court had on April 23 warned Balaji that his bail in a money-laundering case would be cancelled if he did not resign from his post. Ponmudy, on the other, had come under criticism from the Madras High Court and within the DMK for his allegedly defamatory remarks about women and two denominations of Hinduism.
While Ponmudy held the forest portfolio, Balaji handled the electricity, prohibition and excise departments.
On Sunday, a release from the Raj Bhavan said that Chief Minister MK Stalin made a recommendation for Governor RN Ravi to accept their resignations, according to The Hindu. Stalin also recommended the induction of former minister Mano Thangaraj into the Cabinet, with the swearing-in to be held on April 28.
Ponmudy's portfolio was allotted to Milk and Dairy Development Minister RS Rajakannappan while Transport Minister S Sivasankar will handle the electricity department held by Balaji. Housing and Urban Development Minister S Muthusamy will take over the prohibition and excise departments.
On April 23, the Supreme Court had asked Balaji to decide 'between his minister post and liberty' by Monday. The petitioners had argued that witnesses in the case might be facing intimidation because Balaji had become a minister after being released.
He was reinstated as a minister in the state Cabinet on September 29, three days after he was granted bail. The Enforcement Directorate had arrested him in June 2023 for allegedly conspiring with transport corporation officials to appoint candidates recommended by his aides in exchange for money.
On the same day that Balaji was given an ultimatum by the Supreme Court, the Madras High Court also ordered the registration of a case against Ponmudy for his allegedly defamatory remarks.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh said that Ponmudy's statements amounted to hate speech and directed the court registry to place the case before the chief justice.
Earlier this month, a video of Ponmudy purportedly linking sexual positions to Hindu denominations Shaivism and Vaishnavism at a public event on April 6 was circulated widely on social media. The comments were made in the context of a joke involving a sex worker and her client.
After outrage against his remarks Ponmudy was sacked as deputy general secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam by Chief Minister MK Stalin on April 11. However, he had continued to serve as the state forest minister.
After Ponmudy's dismissal from his post in the DMK, party colleague MP Kanimozhi had criticised his remarks. 'Regardless of the reason for the speech, such vulgar remarks are condemnable,' she had said on social media.