AIADMK’s Edappadi Palaniswami, handpicked by party chief VK Sasikala, is theTamil Nadu’s new Chief Minister, the state’s third in the last three months. Governor C Vidyasagar Rao’s office announced Palaniswami’s appointment after a meeting at Chennai’s Raj Bhawan this morning.
The new chief minister and his new cabinet have taken oath at 4.30 this evening and he will have 15 days to prove he has majority support in the state legislature. Home and finance portfolios are with EPS.31 Ministers were also sworn in with EPS.
Governor Rao had heard competing pitches on Wednesday night from Mr Palaniswami and acting chief minister O Panneerselvam for the top post.
Palaniswami, 63, has reportedly said he is ready for a vote of confidence in the state assembly immediately. He will have to prove that he has the support of 117 MLAs or more in the legislature, the current strength of which is 234.
Mr Palaniswami has claimed that he has the support of 124 of the AIADMK’s 134 legislators.
O Panneerselvam had claimed the support of 11 legislators in his meeting with the governor yesterday, but said he expected many more to back him once they were “free” from what he calls “captivity” at a five-star resort near Chennai.
124 party MLAs were still at the Golden Bay Resort in Mahabalipuram on Thursday morning and several told reporters that they were not being pressured to stay and would do the bidding of the “high command” or Ms Sasikala, who was jailed in Bengaluru on Wednesday to serve four years for corruption, putting an end to her bid for chief minister.
Ms Sasikala has chosen her loyalist Mr Palaniswami in her place to ensure she keeps control of the party and government from jail.
Mr Palaniswami will have to prove in a vote of confidence that he has the support of 117 MLAs or more in the 235 member state assembly.
Vastly outnumbered, the camp of Mr Panneerselvam or OPS has pinned its strategy on a handful more party MLAs crossing over to its side – it needs less than ten for Mr Palaniswami to be short of the majority mark.
