Ending the political uncertainty in Tamil Nadu that began with caretaker Chief Minister O Panneerselvam revolting against All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary VK Sasikala, Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao on Thursday sworn in a 31-member cabinet headed by 63-year-old Edappadi K Palaniswami. A special assembly session will be held on Saturday to prove the majority.
The Governor administered the oath of office and secrecy to Palaniswami, a staunch Sasikala loyalist, at a hurriedly convened swearing-in ceremony at the Raj Bhavan on Thursday evening.
Except for O Panneerselvam and Ma Foi K Pandiarajan, Palaniswami has retained the outgoing council of ministers. Party presidium chairman KA Sengottaiyan is the only new inductee and was given the school education portfolio held by Pandiarajan. The Governor has given Palaniswami 15 days to prove his majority in the Assembly.
Palaniswami, along with his cabinet colleagues, and the newly appointed party deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran visited the memorials of late chief ministers Jayalalithaa, MG Ramachandran and CN Annadurai. "We will prove our majority and will continue Amma's (Jayalalithaa) rule," Palaniswami told reporters.
Panneerselvam on Thursday vowed to continue the fight till truth wins. "We will continue our fight against the (Sasikala) family that is trying to take control of the party and the government," he told his supporters. Panneerselvam has the support of 10 MLAs, and the AIADMK 135.
Palaniswami hails from the Kongu Vellala Gounder community, a one in western Tamil Nadu. He joined the Jayalalithaa faction when the AIADMK split, following party founder MG Ramachandran's death in 1987. In the 1989 assembly election, he successfully contested from the Edappadi constituency and retained it again in 1991. He again rose to prominence after Jayalalithaa inducted him into her ministry in 2011 and he was the number four in the cabinet. In 2016, he was promoted to number three and was holding the PWD and highways and port portfolios.
He is the third Chief Minister to be sworn in in the last nine months after the AIADMK won its second successive term in May 2016. After Jayalalithaa's demise on December 5 last year, Panneerselvam took charge as full-time CM for the first time. He had been interim CM twice when Jayalalithaa stepped down after she was convicted in corruption cases.
Exactly two months after Jayalalithaa's death, Panneerselvam, on February 5, stepped down to give way for Sasikala, who was elected as the party's legislature leader. However, he revolted against her elevation on February 7, pushing the state into a political turmoil.
As the Governor waited for the Supreme Court's verdict in the disproportionate assets case, the two warring factions indulged in a political tug-of-war. The Panneerselvam camp, which claimed the support of majority MLAs, kept on accusing Sasikala's faction of locking up MLAs in the Golden Bay Resort near Mahabalipuram. Following the SC order restoring the conviction in DA case, Sasikala hand-picked Palaniswami who staked claim to form the government on Tuesday. He was invited by the Governor on Thursday morning after his camp submitted a list of 124 MLAs supporting him.
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