30th September 2014

Courtesy: The Hindu

Tearful Panneerselvam takes oath as Tamil Nadu CM

Mr. Panneerselvam, 63, succeeds J. Jayalalithaa as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

This makes him the 28th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu since 1920.

The chief minister and his cabinet will go to the secretariat and sign. They are leaving to Bangalore by flight at 4.45 pm today.

Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and the cabinet ministers coming out of Durbar Hall. Photo: B. Aravind Kumar

14.34: OPS, as he is known in the party circles, became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 2001 in similar circumstances.

14.20: No change in the cabinet, say official sources.

14.15: Minister for Information Technology, Mukkur N. Subramanian in tears.

Minister for Information Technology, Mukkur N. Subramanian in tears. Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

13.45: Transport Minister V. Senthil Balaji, Minister for Handloom & Textiles S. Gokula Indira and Industries Minister SP Velumani in tears.

13.42: With the AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa in prison, the Ministers cry one after another while taking oath.

13.40: Social welfare minister B. Valarmathi breaks into tears as she signs.

From right: Ministers Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Vaithilingam and Natham Viswanathan at the swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan on Monday. Photo: S.R. Ragunathan

13.36: Ministers Vaithilingam, Edappadi K. Palaniswami are in tears as they take oath.

The new CM in tears at Raj Bhavan, Chennai. Photo: S.R. Ragunathan

13.30: The new chief minister breaks down as he takes oath.

13.29: O. Panneerselvam takes oath as the new chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Panneerselvam, 63, was elected the leader of the AIADMK’s legislature party on Sunday evening following four-year prison term to party general secretary J. Jayalalithaa in a disproportionate assets case.

Following her conviction, Jayalalithaa was lodged in the Bangalore Central Jail.

AIADMK activists are on hunger strike in various parts of the state protesting the conviction of their leader in the case.

Some fishermen in Kanyakumari did not venture out into the sea on Monday, protesting their leader’s conviction.

Several members of parliament belonging to the AIADMK are in Bangalore to meet their jailed leader.