CHENNAI: Fulfilling the wish of AIADMK cadre, party general secretary J Jayalalithaa will take over the reins of the State government again on Saturday with a Council of 28 ministers, following the resignation of the ministry headed by O Panneerselvam on Friday.
The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 11 am at the Madras University Centenary Auditorium. Jayalalithaa has retained almost all ministers in the erstwhile ministry, while dropping two. Panneerselvam has been allotted his old portfolios — Finance, PWD and Irrigation. He is likely to be made leader of the House again.
Jayalalithaa on Friday made her first public appearance after nearly seven months and lakhs of AIADMK cadre gave her a resounding reception all through the way to Raj Bhavan as well as when she paid floral tribute to leaders such as Periyar, Arignar Anna and M G Ramachandran at their statues on Anna Salai. Her visit to various places lasted for over two hours.
The day was marked by events starting from the early morning meeting of AIADMK MLAs at the party headquarters. The meeting, which lasted for just nine minutes, unanimously elected Jayalalithaa as the leader of the AIADMK Legislature Party. A total of 144 MLAs except Speaker P Dhanapal were present at the meeting held at 7 am. The MLAs started gathering for the crucial meeting from around 5.20 am. The first to land at the AIADMK headquarters was M Muthuramalingam. Panneerselvam spoke in praise of Jayalalithaa and moved a resolution proposing her name. It was seconded by Minister for Electricity Natham R Viswanathan.
Meanwhile, MSM Anandan, who held the Forest portfolio, and P Chendur Pandian, who was continuing as minister without portfolio due to his ill health, have been dropped from the ministry. The Forest portfolio has been given to Edappadi K Palanisamy, Minister for Highways.