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India's southern Tamil Nadu state gets new chief minister

Xinhua, February 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

Edappadi K Palaniswamy was sworn in Thursday evening as the new chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, officials said.

The state's Governor Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath of office, thereby ending the ongoing political crisis in the state.

"Palaniswamy has been sworn in as the new chief minister of Tamil Nadu today," a senior government official said. "The ceremony was held at the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan (the governor's office) in the evening, where Governor Vidyasagar Rao administered Palaniswamy oath of office and secrecy."

Along with the new chief minister, 30 other ministers also took the oath.

The governor's office has given Palaniswamy two weeks time to prove his majority. However, spokesman of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Khazagham (AIADMK) party said the vote of confidence will take place on Saturday.

"Vote of confidence will be taken on 18th (Saturday) of this month," AIADMK spokesman said.

Palaniswamy, who was nominated as legislature party leader by AIADMK chief on Tuesday, is the four-time legislator of AIADMK and remained a close confidante of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and later to her aide V K Sasikala.

Palanisami is the second AIADMK leader to be sworn-in as chief minister of the state following death of AIDMK supremo Jayalalithaa.

The 68-year-old Jayalalithaa died in December last year, following which her trusted legislator O Panneerselvam was chosen as chief minister. Soon after Sasikala tried to exert her grip in party and approached the governor to stake claim as the chief minister, Panneerselvam opposed her move and pushed state in political crisis, which continued for more than a week.

Panneerselvam was expelled from the basic membership of AIADMK.

However, Sasikala's dream to become the chief minister were dashed on Tuesday after India's top court convicted her in a disproportionate assets case along with other two. She was jailed in Parappana Agrahara central jail on the outskirts of Bengaluru city on Wednesday to serve the four-year sentence.

The case was originally against Jayalalithaa and Sasikala along with other two were the co-accused. It dating back to the 1990s was based on the fact that during Jayalalithaa's first term as the chief minister, she misused her office to amass assets in a shared fortune with Sasikala and other two.

Sasikala has already served almost six months in jail in the case and now has to serve the remaining imprisonment of three years and six months. Endit