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O Panneerselvam of the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Sunday succeeded party chief J Jayalalithaa as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
Appointing a new CM had been necessitated as a special court in Bangalore on Saturday sentenced Jayalalithaa to four years in jail in an 18-year-old Rs 66.65-crore disproportionate-asset case. The court also imposed a Rs 100-crore fine on her. A bail petition on behalf of Jayalalithaa is expected to be filed in the Karnataka High Court on Monday.
The announcement of Panneerselvam’s name came after a meeting of top AIADMK leaders with Jayalalithaa in a Bangalore jail, followed by a meeting of the party’s members of legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Chennai.
Earlier in the day, Panneerselvam (Tamil Nadu finance minister until then), Excise Minister Natham Viswanathan and Transport Minister Senthil Balaji met Jayalalithaa and sought her advice on electing a new leader.
At around 3:30 pm, the party’s MLAs met at the AIADMK headquarters and named Panneerselvam as the leader of the legislature party. After the meeting, Panneerselvam went to Jayalalithaa’s residence, where he held discussions with his Cabinet colleagues.
According to a statement from Raj Bhavan here, Panneerselvam met Governor K Rosaiah on Sunday and gave him a copy of a resolution passed by the AIADMK legislators unanimously electing him the leader of the legislature party. After this, the governor invited him to be the chief minister.
This is the second time that Panneerselvam has been chosen in the middle of a term to take over from Jayalalithaa as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Earlier, he had become an interim CM in 2001, when Jayalalithaa had to step down following a Supreme Court verdict terming her appointment null and void due to her conviction in a criminal case. In 2002, though, Jayalalithaa was acquitted in that case by the Madras High Court and reinstated as chief minister. She was later elected from the Andipatti Assembly constituency.
On Saturday, the Bangalore special court had convicted Jayalalithaa in the case of having assets disproportionate to her known source of income. Her close aide Sasikala Natarajan, Ilavarasi and her disowned foster son Sudhakaran were awarded jail terms.For Jayalalithaa, the sentence implied loss of membership of the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Appointing a new CM had been necessitated as a special court in Bangalore on Saturday sentenced Jayalalithaa to four years in jail in an 18-year-old Rs 66.65-crore disproportionate-asset case. The court also imposed a Rs 100-crore fine on her. A bail petition on behalf of Jayalalithaa is expected to be filed in the Karnataka High Court on Monday.
The announcement of Panneerselvam’s name came after a meeting of top AIADMK leaders with Jayalalithaa in a Bangalore jail, followed by a meeting of the party’s members of legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Chennai.
Earlier in the day, Panneerselvam (Tamil Nadu finance minister until then), Excise Minister Natham Viswanathan and Transport Minister Senthil Balaji met Jayalalithaa and sought her advice on electing a new leader.
At around 3:30 pm, the party’s MLAs met at the AIADMK headquarters and named Panneerselvam as the leader of the legislature party. After the meeting, Panneerselvam went to Jayalalithaa’s residence, where he held discussions with his Cabinet colleagues.
According to a statement from Raj Bhavan here, Panneerselvam met Governor K Rosaiah on Sunday and gave him a copy of a resolution passed by the AIADMK legislators unanimously electing him the leader of the legislature party. After this, the governor invited him to be the chief minister.
This is the second time that Panneerselvam has been chosen in the middle of a term to take over from Jayalalithaa as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Earlier, he had become an interim CM in 2001, when Jayalalithaa had to step down following a Supreme Court verdict terming her appointment null and void due to her conviction in a criminal case. In 2002, though, Jayalalithaa was acquitted in that case by the Madras High Court and reinstated as chief minister. She was later elected from the Andipatti Assembly constituency.
On Saturday, the Bangalore special court had convicted Jayalalithaa in the case of having assets disproportionate to her known source of income. Her close aide Sasikala Natarajan, Ilavarasi and her disowned foster son Sudhakaran were awarded jail terms.For Jayalalithaa, the sentence implied loss of membership of the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
| Tamil Nadu’s Gulzarilal Nanda? |
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In Tamil Nadu, O Panneerselvam has a distinction similar to what Gulzarilal Nanda had at the Centre. Like Nanda, who became interim prime minister twice, Panneerselvam has filled in as CM for a second time. The difference, though, is that the former took the responsibility on demise of prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri, while the latter has had to do so on both occasions following incumbent J Jayalalithaa’s disqualification as CM. Born in January 1951, Panneerselvam first became Tamil Nadu CM in 2001, when Jayalalithaa had to step down after a Supreme Court order terming her appointment null and void due to her conviction in a criminal case. A trusted colleague of Jayalalithaa’s, Panneerselvam owned agricultural land and a tea shop before entering politics. He contested the 2001 state election from Periakulam and became the PWD minister. He was also the first person from the Thevar caste to become the state’s CM. |
