Chennai: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Chief MK Stalin took oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Friday for the first time as DMK took charge of the state after 10 years. His swearing-in ceremony was held at Raj Bhavan in Chennai. Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to Stalin and his Cabinet ministers.


Stalin shall hold Home and other portfolios including public, general administration, all India services, district revenue officers, special programme implementation and welfare of differently-abled persons, a Raj Bhavan release said.


Stalin has changed some names of the department which are:



  • A separate ministry called 'Water Resources Department' is being set up to meet the water needs of Tamil Nadu.

  • The Department of Agriculture has been renamed as Agriculture - Agrarian Welfare Department" as it is the Government's objective to safeguard the interests of farmers.

  • The Department of Environment is renamed the 'Environment - Climate Change Department' to raise awareness about the environmental effects of climate change.


Along with Stalin, 33 ministers were sworn in by the governor of Tamil Nadu.


The ceremony, which was being held on the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 wave in the state/ country, was attended by AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam,  Congress's P Chidambaram, MDMK chief Vaiko besides others from the alliance.


33 other ministers took oath along with Stalin. The newly sworn-in ministers include 19 former ministers and 1


MK Stalin has retained senior leaders like Duraimurugan, 15 members shall be ministers for the first time. Party veteran and general secretary Duraimurugan, who had held portfolios like Public Works during the previous DMK rule (2006-11), would be Minister for Water Resources in charge of irrigation projects and others including mines and minerals.


The DMK won 133 seats in the April 6 Assembly polls and along with allies, including Congress, garnered a total of 159 constituencies in the 234-member Assembly. The AIADMK won 66 segments and its partners BJP and PMK, four and five seats respectively.