File photo: O Panneerselvam with AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa. (Press Trust of India)
Chennai:
63-year-old O Panneerselvam is practiced at stepping in for his boss, Jayalalithaa.
Today, he was sworn in as the new chief minister of Tamil Nadu, the post that fell dramatically vacant after Jayalalithaa, 66, was imprisoned for corruption on Saturday, half-way through her third term as the state's highest elected official.
Mr Panneerselvam, 63, was Jayalalithaa's Finance Minister. In 2001, when she had been jailed for a few weeks for another criminal case, he had taken over as head of the government. He proved his loyalty and credentials as a seat-warmer, stepping down to make room for her after she was acquitted six months later. In his brief term as Chief Minister, he had refused to use the chair once occupied by Jayalalithaa.
Before he was picked as her successor for a second time by his party's law-makers in Chennai, Amma, as she is referred to, now Prisoner No 7402 at a Bangalore jail, briefed her party's senior leaders on what they were to do.
Jayalalithaa was found guilty of corruption during her first term as Chief Minister from 1991-1996 by a Bangalore judge on Saturday and fined Rs 100 crores after an 18-year trial. Her lawyers moved the Karnataka High Court today to appeal against the verdict and ask for bail.
The case that sent her to prison was transferred to Karnataka in 2001 amid allegations that because her party, the AIADMK, was then in power, a trial against her in her home state would not be unbiased.
Today, he was sworn in as the new chief minister of Tamil Nadu, the post that fell dramatically vacant after Jayalalithaa, 66, was imprisoned for corruption on Saturday, half-way through her third term as the state's highest elected official.
Mr Panneerselvam, 63, was Jayalalithaa's Finance Minister. In 2001, when she had been jailed for a few weeks for another criminal case, he had taken over as head of the government. He proved his loyalty and credentials as a seat-warmer, stepping down to make room for her after she was acquitted six months later. In his brief term as Chief Minister, he had refused to use the chair once occupied by Jayalalithaa.
Before he was picked as her successor for a second time by his party's law-makers in Chennai, Amma, as she is referred to, now Prisoner No 7402 at a Bangalore jail, briefed her party's senior leaders on what they were to do.
Jayalalithaa was found guilty of corruption during her first term as Chief Minister from 1991-1996 by a Bangalore judge on Saturday and fined Rs 100 crores after an 18-year trial. Her lawyers moved the Karnataka High Court today to appeal against the verdict and ask for bail.
The case that sent her to prison was transferred to Karnataka in 2001 amid allegations that because her party, the AIADMK, was then in power, a trial against her in her home state would not be unbiased.
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