When Tamil Nadu chief minister broke down while taking oath

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Sep 29, 2014: O Panneerselvam, who on Monday took oath as Tamil Nadu’s 28th chief minister following AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa’s conviction in a corruption case, choked and broke down during the swearing-in ceremony in Chennai.

 

 

With their leader locked in a jail in Bangalaore, there was no happy note at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai with other ministers and leaders of the AIADMK also seen wiping their tears at the ceremony.

Panneerselvam’s colleague in the state cabinet, Gokula Indira, also started crying while taking her oath as cabinet minister. Other MLAs to break down included R Vaithilingam, B Valarmathi and P Thangamani.

A farmer from Theni district, Panneerselvam, or OPS as he is known in the party, is a staunch loyalist of Jayalalithaa. He entered politics in 1996 and became the head of a local body. In 2001, he was elected to the assembly from Periakulam and became Minister for Public Works Department.

He had become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for six months in 2001 when Jayalalithhaa was jailed in the Tansi land scam. The 63-year-old leader was also the leader of opposition when the AIADMK was voted out in 2006.

A special court in Bangalore on Saturday sentenced Jayalalithaa to four years in prison and fined her Rs.100 crore for amassing wealth illegally when she was the chief minister in 1991-96. Jayalalithaa on Monday appealed against her verdict and applied for bail in the Karnataka High Court, which will hear her case on Tuesday.


Courtesy: Indiatoday