O Panneerselvam arrives in Bangalore, expected to meet Jayalalithaa tomorrow

BANGALORE: Newly sworn-in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who arrived here today along with his senior cabinet colleagues, is expected to meet AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, who is in prison after being convicted in a disproportionate assets case.

"Pannerselvam today arrived in Bangalore along with some senior cabinet colleagues and is expected to meet Jayalalithaa tomorrow in the jail," AIADMK sources said.

Senior AIADMK leaders and cabinet ministers, including Natham R Viswanathan, R Vaithilingam, Edapadi Palanisamy, C Vijayabaskar, K C Veeramani and B V Ramana accompanied Panneerselvam in a chartered flight from Chennai.

Panneerselvam was sworn-in as the Chief Minister to head the 31-member council of ministers by Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah in a low-key function at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai this afternoon.

A special court here had on September 27 convicted Jayalalithaa in the Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case and sentenced to four years in jail besides a fine of Rs 100 crore, resulting in her automatic disqualification as MLA.

Jayalalithaa and three others convicted in the case are now lodged in Parappana Agrahara prison on the outskirts of the city.

Earlier in the day, Jayalalithaa had moved Karnataka High Court challenging her conviction by the special court, maintaining that all charges of amassing wealth against her were false and she had acquired property through legal means and pleaded for bail.