O Panneerselvam sworn in as Tamil Nadu CM

CHENNAI: AIADMK’s O Panneerselvam on Monday became the first person to take the oath of Chief Minister weeping. Handpicked by his predecessor J Jayalalithaa for his loyalty, the new CM of Tamil Nadu and 30 other ministers were sworn-in by Governor K Rosaiah, after their party boss was convicted to four years imprisonment in a disproportionate assets case.

Tears rolled down the faces of many ministers as they came to the podium to be administered the oath of office and secrecy. The mood in the durbar hall was anything but celebratory with no exchange of greetings, claps or smiles. All ministers also looked grim, reflecting the mood in the ruling party. In a show of loyalty, OP placed a photograph of Jayalalithaa on the lectern before taking the oath of office and secrecy and kept wiping his tears. He was earlier chosen CM in 2001, almost under similar circumstances when Jayalalithaa was unseated by the Supreme Court.

The new CM has retained all ministers of the Jayalalithaa Cabinet and effected no change in their portfolios.

According to a Raj Bhavan communique, he has retained his earlier portfolios of Finance and PWD and took over the Home and other key portfolios held by Jayalalithaa. Hours after being sworn in, Panneerselvam and his senior Cabinet colleagues left for Karnataka to call on the AIADMK supremo lodged in Parappana Agrahara prison in the outskirts of Bangalore. NR Viswanathan, R Vaithilingam, Edapadi Palanisamy, C Vijayabaskar, KC Veeramani and BV Ramana accompanied the CM in a private flight. Continuing protest against Jayalalithaa’s conviction, party workers and sympathisers observed a fast and staged demonstrations across the state on Monday.

The protocol department of the state government and Raj Bhavan kept the ceremony under a strict veil of secrecy, probably under instructions from the new CM in view of the circumstances and the mood prevailing among the partymen, who continued to hold protests across the state condemning Jaya’s conviction.