CHENNAI: Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Saturday took oath as a member of the State Assembly, representing RK Nagar. On June 30, she won the by-election to the constituency with a huge margin of 1,50,722 votes with all 27 candidates, including CPI leader C Mahendran and social activist Traffic KR Ramaswamy, forfeiting their deposits.
Jayalalithaa arrived at the chamber of Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal at 11 am, and handed over to him the certificate of election issued by the Returning Officer and took the oath. She was accompanied by all her cabinet colleagues on the occasion.
The RK Nagar seat fell vacant followign the resignation of AIADMK legislator P Vetrivel. Elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1984, Jayalalithaa retained the seat until her maiden entry to the the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1989.
After the demise of AIADMK founder and former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa was elected from Bodinayakkanur in Theni district in 1989 and became the first Woman Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
In the 1991, she won from both Bargur and Kangeyam constituencies but retained Bargur. She was elected from Andipatti in February 2002 and May 2006; In May 2011, she was elected from Srirangam.