Although Jayalalithaa has now secured an interim bail from the Supreme Court, because of her conviction, she has lost her membership of the legislative Assembly and cannot contest elections. The general perception is that Panneerselvam will follow his 66-year-old leader's directions - now that she is out of jail - in running the government and, in effect, there will be no major change in policy.
According to sources, Panneerselvam has been focusing on implementing the welfare schemes that Jayalalithaa had announced earlier.
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Notably, while in jail, Jayalalithaa had refused to meet Panneerselvam, saying it's improper for a CM to visit jail. So, for the past 20-odd days, no significant decision has been taken by the state government - ostensibly because there have been no "directions".
Senior ministers Natham R Viswanathan (minister for electricity and prohibition), R Vaithilingam (minister of housing and urban development), Edappadi K Palaniswami (highways and minor ports) and V Senthil Balaji (transport) along with Jayalalithaa's former adviser Sheela Balakrishnan, are said to be working with Panneerselvam in continuing Jaya's policies.
Like during his brief stint as chief minister in 2001 when Jayalalithaa was last jailed (she was later acquitted of all charges), Paneerselvam has refused to use the chair and the room that Jayalalithaa had occupied when she was the CM. He continues to operate from his room, which he has been occupying as finance minister.
For Jayalalithaa, who still controls the party and, in effect, guides the government it runs, the biggest challenge will be the continuation of her welfare policies, which need personal attention. While in her previous tenure she was focusing on economic and administrative reforms, it is the social welfare policies targeting the poor that have been her signature administrative moves. Elections are due in Tamil Nadu in 2016 and Jayalalithaa wants to replicate her stunning Lok Sabha performance when the AIADMK managed to bag 37 seats out of the state's 39.
While the government has not come out with major policy announcements since she went to jail, various ministers have been holding review meetings. So far, the ministers for food; co-operation; rural industries and labour; micro, small and medium enterprises; and handlooms and textiles have held such review meetings to take stock of their departments.
There are a few exceptions, though. Orders worth Rs 7,800 crore were placed by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, for engineering, procurement and construction for a 1,320 megawatt (Mw) plant near Chennai and it was backed by BHEL. The state-run company plans to set up a 2x660-Mw coal-fired supercritical thermal power project at the Ennore special economic zone.
Following the sentencing of Jayalalithaa and others in the case, the state saw massive violence, affecting public life. With no effective government in the state, Tamil Nadu governor K Rosaiah reviewed the law and order situation. One of the major tasks of the new CM will be to control the law and order situation as well as rein in party workers from continuing violence.
After he took over, some of the notable orders by Panneerselvam have been instructions to government officials to take necessary steps to prevent dengue fever in the state, conduct meetings for extending the relief assistance to disaster-hit Andhra Pradesh, and chairing review meetings on special buses to be deployed during Deepavali, while restricting private omnibuses from increasing prices abnormally during the days of the festival.
Interestingly, in a party where the chief's power is perceived as beyond question, an AIADMK member from Coimbatore has come sent a letter to Jayalalithaa asking her to resign from the post of general-secretary of the party on moral grounds, which, according to him, would increase her popularity.
One of the main focus areas of Jayalalithaa during her tenure since 2011 was to create the "Amma" brand. Amma (Tamil for mother) is the name used by her partymen for her. Instead of affixing the name only on the schemes offered by the government, as many CMs do, she has created an "Amma" brand, using it to brand low-cost canteens, mineral water, fresh vegetable stores, salt, cement and theatres. Various parties in the state have been demanding the removal of her picture from the schemes and from various government offices after her disqualification from the legislature. The new CM has, unsurprisingly, ignored these demands.
With Jayalalithaa getting bail and returning to Chennai, the general perception is that governance would be back to normal. As Jayalalithaa will not be able to contest the next Assembly elections, she will take up her role in running the party much more actively. How this will play out in running the state remains to be seen.