NEW CABINET: Lt. Governor M. M. Lakhera and Chief Minister N. Rangasamy with the five Ministers P.Angalane, Malladi Krishna Rao,V.Vaithilingam, E.Valsaraj, M O H F Shah Jahan who were sworn in on Monday. — Photo: T. Singaravelou

Pondicherry: The 11-day-old Congress Government headed by N. Rangasamy was expanded on Monday with the induction of five Ministers in keeping with the convention of having a six-member Ministry (including the Chief Minister) in the Union Territory.

Lt. Governor M. M. Lakhera administered the oath of office and secrecy to V. Vaithilingam, E. Valsaraj, M. O. H. F. Shah Jahan, Malladi Krishna Rao and P. Angalane at a colourful function held on the Beach Road near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. They all took the oath in the name of God.

While Mr. Vaithilingam, Mr. Shah Jahan and Mr. Angalane took the oath of office and secrecy in Tamil, Mr. Valsaraj and Mr. Malladi Krishna Rao took the oath in English and Telugu.

Mr. Vaithilingam is a former Chief Minister of Pondicherry and Mr. Valsaraj is a former Health Minister here. Police were deployed in large number in and around the venue of the swearing in ceremony.

Even as the function was on, supporters as well as admirers of some of the Ministers went onbursting crackers in Bharathi Park .

Apart from Mr. Rangasamy, All-India Congress Committee Secretary P. Sudhakar Reddy, general secretaries B. K. Hariprasad and V. Narayanasamy, PCC leader P. Shanmugham, Pattali Makkal Katchi Parliamentary party leader M. Ramadoss, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Pondicherry) convener R. V. Janakiraman, CPI national council member R. Viswanathan, pro tem Speaker A. V. Sreedharan, legislators and others witnessed the swearing in ceremony.

Full-fledged Ministry

The Congress, with ten members, has formed a full-fledged Ministry with the unconditional outside support extended by DMK (7 MLAs), PMK (2) and CPI (1).

The induction of Malladi Krishna Rao, elected from Yanam, is the first minister from the Yanam region.

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