MK Stalin will be swearing-in as the next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Friday and the arrangements, including security and protocol, for the ceremony have been in full swing in Chennai. The ceremony will be hosted by Raj Bhavan, the Governor's Mansion, from 9 am to 10 am on Friday and the Governor will be administering the oath of office and secrecy to Stalin and the rest of the cabinet ministers in the ceremony, that will be kept non-lavish, in light of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While Stalin has been preparing to assume the Office of the Chief Minister for the first time with challenging tasks ahead, the party was surfaced with heated speculations on who will decorate Stalin's cabinet as ministers. It was reported that Stalin has decided to allot a significant scale of his cabinet berth to new faces while retaining the administrative experience of the bigheads of the party. 

Amid anticipations and predictions over who will get which department, Raj Bhavan has on Thursday released the full and final list of the cabinet ministers and their portfolios, exactly a day ahead of the swearing-in ceremony. The Governor's secretary has unveiled the list of ministers and it can be learned that Stalin will be heading the cabinet comprises of 34 ministers. The list has come with minor changes of the predictions and a major overhaul for leading the state as Stalin has invited a handful of new faces to decorate his cabinet. Let's take a took at the new faces who will be part of Tamil Nadu's next cabinet, 

1) Ma Subramanian: Being popularly known as one of the closest aides of Stalin, Subramanian, who was the former Mayor of Chennai, has got the Himalayan task of leading the state's health department. He has been named as the Minister for Health and Family Welfare and the greater responsibility of addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and health crisis has been shouldered on him and he will be the face of Stalin's battle to end the pandemic. 

The 61-year-old legislator has won from the Saidapet constituency in the recently-held elections by defeating former Chennai Mayor and ADMK's candidate Saithai Duraiswamy and he is all set to enter the assembly as the minister for the first time. Subramanian is well-known for his campaign and advocacy towards better health and the environment. As a loyalist for MK Stalin, Subramanian is one of the party leaders who addressed the first wave of the pandemic well in his constituency and Stalin believes he is the right lieutenant to lead the crucial department at testing times. 

2) Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi: The son of MK Stalin's close friend Anbil Poyyamozhi, Mahesh Poyyamozhi is one of the young guns of the party who is active on the grounds. Mahesh Poyyamozhi observes close ties with Udhayanidhi Stalin for several years and he has developed a stronghold in the Trichy district. When it comes to the youth wing of the party, Mahesh Poyyamozhi is the obvious face to look up to after Udhayanidhi Stalin. 

Mahesh Poyyamozhi will be entering the assembly for the second consecutive time from the Thiruverumbur constituency and this time, he has defeated the ADMK's candidate with a huge margin. Mahesh Poyyamozhi is all set to enter the assembly as the minister for the first time as he has been named as the Minister for School Education in Stalin's cabinet. Soon after the swearing-in, Mahesh Poyyamozhi will be meeting the challenge of fixing the glitches in the corridors of education and addressing the difficulties of the virtual learning faced by the poor and marginalized students. 

3) R Sakkarapani: A six-time MLA of the DMK, Sakkarapani has finally got the ticket for the cabinet as he has been named as the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies in the incoming administration. Sakkarappani has been serving the assembly since 1996 and he won the last six elections including the recently-held assembly polls from the Oddanchatram constituency. 

He had served as the DMK Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Whip from 2006 to 2011 and for 2011 to 2016 assemblies and he also had served as the party's whip from 2016 to 2021. As the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Sakkarapani will be responsible for the Public Distribution System (rations), consumer protection, and price control.

4) R Gandhi: Gandhi is all set to enter the assembly as the minister for the first time as he has been named as Minister for Handlooms and Textiles, responsible for handlooms, textiles, khadi, village industries board, Boothan, and Gramadhan. Gandhi was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from the Ranipet constituency as the DMK MLA in the 1996, 2006, and 2016 elections. He also has won from the same constituency in the recently-held elections. 

5) P Moorthy: As a DMK MLA elected from the Madurai East constituency in the recently-held elections by defeating ADMK's Gopalakrishnan, Moorthy will be entering the assembly as the minister for the first time and Stalin has picked him to lead the Ministry of Commercial Taxes and Registration, responsible for commercial taxes, registration and stamp act, weights and measures, debt relief including legislation on money lending, chits, and registration of companies. He had represented Madurai East in the last assembly and previously, he was elected from the Sholavandhan constituency in DMK's ticket. 

6) SS Sivasankar: Sivasankar is one of the most expected names to decorate Stalin's cabinet and as expected, he has got the berth as the Minister for Backward Classes welfare with the responsibility of concentrating on the backward classes welfare, most backward classes welfare, and denotified communities welfare. Sivasankar has won the 2021 polls from the Kunnam constituency. 

Sivasankar is an engineering graduate from Annamalai University and his father S Sivasubramanian was a former MP and MLA of DMK.  Sivasankar had represented the Andimadam constituency as DMK MLA in 2006 and he is prominent across the state for being a staunch critic against the NEET and suppressions levied on the backward classes. 

7) PK Sekarbabu: Being one of the close aides for MK Stalin, the ministerial berth for Sekarbabu has implied his growth in the party. He had won the 2021 polls from the Harbour constituency in Chennai by defeating the BJP's candidate in a huge margin. Sekar Babu, who was also to Udhayanidhi Stalin, has been named as Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments. 

The 58-year-old legislator was with the ADMK and he was elected from the RK Nagar constituency as the ADMK's candidate in the 2001 and 2006 elections. He then joined DMK in 2011 and he won from the Harbour constituency in the 2021 polls. Sekar Babu will enter the assembly as the minister for the first time and he is one of the key leaders of the party in Chennai. 

8) Palanivel Thiagarajan: The son of the late DMK leader PTR Palanivel Rajan, Palanivel Thiagarajan will be entering the assembly for the first time as the minister as Stalin has picked him to be the Minister for Finance and Human Resources Management. Being a techie, Thiagarajan had headed the party's IT wing and he now carries the crucial role of Finance with the challenge of revamping the state's coffers and fixing the growing deficits. 

His grandfather was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from 4 April 1936 to 24 August 1936. Thiagarajan has obtained a master's degree and a Ph.D. at the State University of New York, Buffalo. He also earned MBA in Financial Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management. Thiagarajan was elected to the Tamil Nadu assembly in the 2016 and 2021 polls from the Madurai Central constituency. 

9) SM Nasar: The cabinet ministerial berth for Nasar would possibly be the gift for defeating ADMK's Minister Mafoi Pandiarajan in the Avadi constituency. In what has become one of the significant picks of his cabinet, Nasar has been named as the Minister for Milk and Dairy Development. 

10) Gingee KS Masthan: He was one of the DMK MLAs who had tested positive for the COVID-19 viral infection last year, Masthan has joined the club of DMK MLAs who will be entering the assembly as the ministers for the first time. He won the Gingee constituency in the 2021 polls, the same seat which he represented in 2016. Stalin has named Masthan as the Minister for Minorities Welfare and Non-Resident Tamils Welfare, with the responsibility of taking care of minorities welfare, non-resident Tamils welfare, refugees and evacuees, and Wakf board. 

11) Siva Meyyanathan: Being elected from the Alangudi constituency in the 2021 polls, Meyyanathan is all set to walk into the assembly as the minister for the first time. Stalin has named Meyyanathan as the Minister for Environment, Climate Change, Youth Welfare, and Sports Development, which comes with the responsibility of controlling pollution, securing the environment, and concentrating on youth welfare and sports development. 

12) CV Ganesan: Ganesan has been elected as the MLA in the 2021 polls from the Tittakudi reserved constituency. Stalin has named Ganesan the Minister for Labour Welfare and Skill Development, which includes the task towards promoting employment. He will be having the responsibility for concentrating on employment, training, census, urban and rural job opportunities. He will be entering the assembly for the first time as the minister. 

13) Mano Thangaraj: Elected as the MLA from the Padmanabapuram constituency for the second consecutive time, Mano Thangaraj will walk into the assembly for the first time as the Minister for Information Technology. He had won the 2021 polls with 51.57% of the vote share in Padmanabapuram in the Kanyakumari district.

14) Kayalvizhi Selvaraj: As one of two women ministers in Stalin's cabinet, Kayalvizhi Selvaraj has been named as the Minister for Adi Dravidar Welfare including the welfare of Hill Tribes and Bonded Labour. She had defeated Tamil Nadu BJP President L Murugan in the 2021 polls in the Dharapuram constituency and she is the first-timer to earn a berth in the state cabinet. Along with these 14 ministers, Mathiventhan is also the first time minister and he has been named as the Minister for Tourism in Stalin's cabinet. Overall, Stalin has picked 15 new faces in his 34-member cabinet which will be swearing-in to the offices on Friday.