Tamil Nadu CM drops agriculture minister

Chennai, March 8 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam has dropped agriculture minister "Agri" S.S. Krishnamoorthy from his council of ministers, said a press release from Raj Bhavan.

According to a statement issued on Saturday night by Raj Bhavan, Governor K. Rosaiah has accepted the recommendation of Panneerselvam to drop Krishnamoorthy from the council of ministers.

The portfolio looked after by Krishnamoorthy has now been allotted to R. Vaithialingam, who is also the minister for housing and urban development.

The dropping of Krishnamoorthy follows demands by political parties for his dismissal after the suicide of Muthukumarasamy, an engineer in the agricultural department, last month.

It was alleged that Muthukumarasamy was pressurised by staff in Krishnamoorthy's office to appoint certain people as drivers in the department.

However, according to reports, the appointments were made based on seniority list in the Employment Exchange.

PMK founder S. Ramadoss in a statement demanded registration of a case against the Krishnamoorthy and his arrest for forcing Muthukumarasamy to commit suicide.

He also demanded an inquiry by an official from IAS (Indian Administrative Service) cadre on the pressures exerted by Tamil Nadu ministers and action be taken against them.

Incidentally this is the first time Panneerselvam has dropped a minister from his council ever since he assumed the post last year.