Union Home Minister Amit Shah met T.N. Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay in Chennai ahead of the 31st Meeting of the Southern Zonal Council. Photo: X/@AmitShah.
The 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is set to take place on Thursday at a private hotel near Mamallapuram, about 40 km south of Chennai.
Mr. Shah, who arrived in Chennai on Wednesday evening (August 19, 2026), will chair the meeting, while Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay will be the vice-chairman, a statement said. The meeting is scheduled to take place for about four hours from around 10 a.m. on Thursday (August 20, 2026).
The Southern Zonal Council meeting is organised by the Inter-State Council Secretariat of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, with the Tamil Nadu government acting as the host for this edition of the meet. The Council, whose recommendations are advisory in nature, is likely to deliberate on several core issues concerning the southern States.
Statutory body
Zonal Councils are statutory bodies established under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The Southern Zonal Council comprises the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the Union Territories of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of the member States and Union Territories, along with two other Ministers from each State, will take part in the meeting.
Apart from Mr. Vijay, Tamil Nadu’s representatives include State Minister for Energy Resources and Law C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar and School Education Minister Rajmohan who will take part as members of the Council, while Chief Secretary M. Sai Kumar and Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Prohibition and Excise, K. Manivasan, will participate as advisor and second advisor, respectively. After the meeting, Mr. Shah is scheduled to leave Chennai at around 5.40 p.m. on Thursday.
Published – August 19, 2026 08:52 pm IST
