CHENNAI: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader N Marie Wilson, who secured a resounding victory from the Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, has been entrusted with key portfolios of finance, planning and development in chief minister C Joseph Vijay's newly formed cabinet.
Marie Wilson, who serves as the managing director of Jeppiaar Institute, contested the election from the RK Nagar seat on a TVK ticket. His victory was one of the most dominant performances in the recently concluded state elections.
According to news agency PTI, Wilson garnered 53.97% of the vote in RK Nagar, while the combined vote share of the DMK and AIADMK stood at only 41.4%. The DMK secured 26.56% of the votes, while the AIADMK polled 14.8%.
Remarkably, Wilson's margin of victory alone — 27.41% — was larger than the total votes secured by the runner-up candidate.
Following the cabinet expansion on Thursday, governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar allocated portfolios to the 23 ministers in the Vijay-led council of ministers.
Vijay retained the Home, Police, Municipal Administration and Urban and Water Supply departments, in addition to Special Initiatives, Poverty Alleviation and Rural Indebtedness.
Reacting to his appointment, Marie Wilson thanked both the chief minister and the voters of RK Nagar. "I would like to thank the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for giving me this opportunity and to the RK Nagar constituency people for voting for me," Wilson told news agency ANI.
"I am looking forward to the portfolio and working for the people," he added.
The new government has also created a dedicated Artificial Intelligence department at the cabinet level, making Tamil Nadu the second state in the country after Kerala to do so.
