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The first meeting of the GST (Goods & Services Tax) Council since October last year, scheduled for May 28, will see five new members make their debut. The 43rd meeting of the Council will also miss two prominent members as former Finance Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi and former Finance Minister of Kerala TM Thomas Isaac bow out.
After the recent Assembly elections, four States have got new Finance Ministers – Ajanta Neog (Assam), Tarkishore Prasad (Bihar), KN Balagopal (Kerala), and PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan (Tamil Nadu).
Puducherryhas a new Chief Minister N Rangaswamy, who is yet to form his cabinet, so just like his predecessor V Narayanasamy, he will represent the UT in the Council. Meanwhile, Amit Mitra retains his portfolio as FM in West Bengal, which, too, went to the polls, so he keeps his seat in the Council.
The new faces
Neog, one of the longest-serving women legislators from Assam is the State’s first woman FM. Earlier, she was PWD Minister and was known for her work in developing infrastructure in the State.
Tarkishor Prasad, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister of Bihar is a four-time legislator from Kathiar. Inducted in the State’s Cabinet for the first time, he succeeds Sushil Modi, popularly called SuMo who pulled his weight in the GST Council.
Another new member who will have big shoes to fill is newly-appointed Finance Minister of Kerala KN Balagopal, who replaces the vocal TM Thomas Isaac.
A first time MLA, Balagopal was a Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala between 2010 and 2016, but lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Yet, his party CPI (M) relied on him and he won his seat from Kottarakkara in Kollam district. N Rangaswamy is a fourth-time Chief Minister of Puducherry. He is a commerce graduate with an LLB degree.
Scholarship and pedigree
Among the new set, Tamil Nadu’s PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan stands out with a dazzling CV. A second time MLA, the banker turned politician represents Madurai Central. He is a third generation minister from his family following in the footsteps of his grandfather PT Rajan and his father PTR Palanivel Rajan. With a BTech, MS, PhD and an MBA degree, the highly educated lawmaker has worked with Lehman Brothers (Head of Offshore Capital Market) and Standard Chartered Bank (MD, Financial Market) before making the move to politics
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