Tamil Nadu, which used to have a sizable share of ministers in the union cabinet for almost two decades, has been left with only one representation in the Narendra Modi government and that too as a junior minister.
BJP state president Pon. Radhakrishnan, the lone party candidate who had won from Kanniyakumari constituency, has been inducted in Modi's council of ministers, as a Minister of State.
Radhakrishnan had earlier functioned as a Minister of State in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government.
Tamil Nadu had witnessed a chunk of its MPs being part of the union cabinet in the United Front Government in 1996, which was headed by H D Deve Gowda.
The scenario continued in BJP government in 1998.
But the bumper for Tamil Nadu came during BJP-led NDA government in 1999, in which the grand alliance comprising Tamil parties such as DMK, MDMK and PMK had around 10 ministers.
It was followed by UPA government in 2004 when 12 MPs had an opportunity to become union ministers, marking the highest in the recent history of the state.
However, the number dropped to nine in 2009 as Congress' strength shot up to 206 in the Lok Sabha, reducing the dependency of regional parties.
In 2014, BJP could win in only one seat, while its alliance partner PMK emerged victorious in another seat in Tamil Nadu, though NDA fought Lok Sabha elections with a rainbow alliance.
Queried whether Tamil Nadu's poor representation in the union cabinet would have an adverse impact, BJP's state Secretary K T Raghavan said numbers were not important.
"Radhakrishnan is not only a MP but also the state president of BJP. He has good rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he would take up the issues of Tamil Nadu with Modi," he said.
