Chennai, Sept. 29: Jayalalithaa’s trusted lieutenant O. Panneerselvam took oath today as chief minister along with his cabinet in a tear-stained swearing-in that soon turned into a weeping contest where the busiest role was perhaps of an unassuming piece of cloth.
By the time the emotional ceremony at Tamil Nadu’s Raj Bhavan was over, Panneerselvam’s handkerchief was probably dripping wet.
Their Amma in prison — convicted of amassing unaccounted for wealth — AIADMK MLAs and ministers were in no mood to cherish this swearing-in.
Panneerselvam, 62, took out a photograph of Jayalalithaa from his shirt pocket and placed it before him on the podium before he went on to read the oath of office and secrecy. Midway, tears streamed down his cheeks, his voice choked and out came the handkerchief.
He remembered to put the photograph back in his pocket before signing the register.
The dam of collective grief broke soon after. Ministers M. Subramaniam and B. Valarmathi broke down openly while the rest made no effort to hide their moist cheeks.
OP — as Panneerselvam is referred to in party circles — kept wiping off tears with his handkerchief.
Chief secretary Mohan Verghese Chunkath had a tough time keeping a stoic face as he stood behind the weeping cabinet.
Swearing-in over, the ministers, their visage glum, posed for a photograph with governor K. Rosaiah before Panneerselvam went over to the secretariat and chose to sit in the old chamber he had occupied as finance minister. “He continues to hold the finance portfolio, so he preferred to return there,” explained an official.
OP is expected to sit in the chief minister’s chair only after taking Amma’s blessings, sources said.
Panneerselvam has retained all the 30 ministers appointed by Jayalalithaa, along with the portfolios they had been allotted earlier by the AIADMK chief.
AIADMK cadres held protest fasts throughout the state against the verdict by the special court in Karnataka, where the Supreme Court transferred the case on a plea by Jayalalithaa’s political opponent DMK.
V.P. Kalairajan, an MLA, even spoke of a conspiracy behind judge John Michael D’Cunha’s Saturday verdict. “It is a conspiracy between (DMK chief M.) Karunanidhi and Kannadiga chauvinists since our Amma had got the Cauvery tribunal award gazetted and has been fighting for Cauvery waters. The judge was an agent of this conspiracy,” he said.
Jayalalithaa had fought successfully for Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery waters.
Two lawyers have filed a complaint in the National Human Rights Commission against judge D’Cunha and prosecutor Bhawani Singh for violating Jayalalithaa’s rights by pronouncing the verdict on a holiday.
Rajan Chellappa, the AIADMK mayor of Madurai corporation, has declared a bandh in the city tomorrow.
In January 2007, when the then ruling DMK announced a state-wide bandh against a Supreme Court order staying further work on the Sethusamudram canal, Jayalalithaa had approached the high court to declare the bandh illegal since the top court had ruled that bandhs were illegal.
Karunanidhi had hurriedly converted the protest into a fast but his cadres ensured no buses plied or shops and offices functioned.
The ruling party has also arm-twisted filmdom, prevailing upon the industry to hold a protest on Wednesday and cancel all movie shows in the state.
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