Selvi S. Keerthana — lone woman minister in TVK Cabinet — gets Industries and Investment Promotion

Selvi S. Keerthana, the lone woman in Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay's Cabinet, has been assigned the Industries and Investment Promotion portfolio — a ministry that sits at the heart of Tamil Nadu's economic ambitions, overseeing investor relations, industrial corridors, and employment generation.

TVK managed to become the single largest party in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections but fell short of the majority by 10 seats. The party then secured support from Congress, CPI, CPI(M), IUML, and VCK to form the government. In this coalition context, her appointment to one of the state's most influential portfolios is being widely read as a signal of CM Vijay's intent to bring fresh, forward-looking faces into economic governance.

Her appointment has been welcomed by several women's rights groups and industry observers who see it as a departure from the convention of assigning junior or social-welfare portfolios to first-time women ministers. Political commentators note that the Industries ministry places Keerthana at the centre of the government's economic agenda from day one.