Jayalalithaa takes oath as Tamil Nadu CM for a second consecutive term

Mangalore Today News Network

Chennai, May 23, 2016:  It was on May 23, 2015, that AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa was cleared in a disproportionate assets case that had plagued her political career and disrupted her stint as Tamil Nadu chief minister.

However, on this May 23, Jayalalithaa was sworn in for a sixth time, but more importantly for a second consecutive term, a feat achieved only once before by none other than her mentor and party founder, MG Ramachandran.

In a stellar mandate by the Tamil electorate, Jayalalithaa beat arch rival M Karunanishi and his DMK party to win 134 of the 234 assembly seats.

Governor K Rosiah administered the oath of office and secrecy to the party chief and a 28-member strong ministerial council at a grand ceremony at the Centenary Hall of the Madras University, the same venue Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister the first time in 1991.

It was also the venue for her swearing in after her 2011 victory when she was acquitted by the Karnataka high court in the assets case.

Among those who attended the ceremony were Union parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu, representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a host of VIPs and dignitaries from different walks of life.

Invitations had also gone out to DMK supremo M Karunanidhi and his son MK Stalin, as MLAs.

Stalin attended the ceremony, a first time the opposition made a presence at the event.

The centenary auditorium of the Madras university, that seats 3,200 people, was overflowing with party workers, supporters and well-wishers.

Given the turnout, the road leading to the unviersity on the beach road was cordoned off to ensure smooth movement of vehicular traffic.

The ceremony was live streamed on television and on the internet, giving access to people from across the state and outside a chance to witness the ceremony. LED screens were put up at different places in the state, barring Thanjavur and Karuru, which will have re-elections three weeks from now.

Meanwhile, thousands of people thronged the Poes Gardens residence area to greet and bless their beloved ‘Purutatchi Thalavi’, as she is also known. Priests were also present outside her house with a Poorna Kumbham, a pitcher with auspicious significance used in religious ceremonies.