India, May 21 -- Two Congress lawmakers were among 23 ministers inducted into Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay-led council of ministers on Thursday, making the party a part of the government in the southern state for the first time in 59 years. The Congress lost power in Tamil Nadu in 1967.

Rajesh Kumar and P Viswanathan took oath as ministers in the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led government a day after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge approved their induction. They raised slogans hailing the late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha.

The Congress is negotiating a Rajya Sabha berth from Tamil Nadu with CV Shanmugam, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader, set to ret...