Panneerselvam resigns, Jayalalithaa invited to form govt

Chennai: Accepting the resignation of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam and his council of ministers on Friday Governor K. Rosaiah invited AIADMK general secretary J.Jayalaltihaa to form the ministry at the earliest, a Raj Bhavan statement said.

In two different statements issued, Raj Bhavan said Rosaiah accepted the resignation of O.Panneerselvam and his council of ministers.

"The Governor has requested the Chief Minister and his present council of ministers to function until alternative arrangements are made," the statement said.

Rosaiah has also invited AIADMK general secretary and the leader of legislature party Jayalalithaa to form the ministry at the earliest.

Rosaiah also requested Jayalalithaa to send the list of people to be appointed as ministers with their portfolios.

It was a day of fast paced political development on the expected lines within in the ruling party since morning.

At 7 a.m., the lawmakers of AIADMK at their meeting the party headquarters elected Jayalalithaa as the leader of the legislature party.

Panneerselvam proposing Jayalalithaa's name as the leader of the legislature party, much to the clapping of all the law makers, also said he would resign as chief minister and leader of legislature party.

"It was a short meeting mainly to elect Amma (Jayalalithaa) as the AIADMK's legislature party leader," a party leader told IANS.

It is also expected that Jayalalithaa would be sworn in as the chief minister on Saturday, according to party sources.

Party cadres in large numbers assembled at the AIADMK headquarters here since early Friday morning.

Later in the day, Jayalalithaa would offer floral tributes at the party founder late M.G. Ramachandran's (MGR) statue, DMK founder late C.N. Annadurai's and Dravidar Kazhagam founder late E.V. Ramaswamy's statue here.

Jayalalithaa had to leave the position of chief minister and assembly seat (Srirangam constituency) after she was convicted and given a four-year jail term along with Rs.100 crore fine by a trial court in Bengaluru in a disproportionate assets case.

The Karnataka High Court upheld her appeal against the conviction and acquitted her recently.