EK Palaniswami sworn-in as new Tamil Nadu chief minister along with 30 cabinet ministers; floor test on Feb 18

Palaniswami has to prove his majority within 15 days.

Chennai: E K Palaniswami, a close confidant of AIADMK leader VK Sasikala, was on Thursday sworn-in as the new chief minister of Tamil Nadu, ending weeks of a bitter power struggle among the loyalists of former party general secretary J Jayalalithaa.

Governor C Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Cabinet members at the Raj Bhawan here, hours after he invited Palaniswami to form the government. He has to prove his majority within 15 days.

Besides Palaniswami, 30 other cabinet ministers were also sworn-in.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had found Sasikala guilty in the disproportionate asset case and ordered her to serve a jail sentence. The verdict dashed her hope of becoming the chief minister.

Palaniswami, 63, has retained the crucial Finance Ministry he had held in the outgoing government of O. Panneerselvam, whose attempt to foil Sasikala's attempt to be the Chief Minister triggered an ugly war in the AIADMK.

A farmer by profession, Palaniswami also retained the portfolios of Public Works, Highways and Minor Ports he held in the earlier government.

A Raj Bhavan statement said senior party leaders C. Sreenivasan and K.A. Sengottaiyan have been designated as Minister for Forests and Minister for School Education and Sports and Youth Welfare.

P. Thangamani will be in charge of Electricity, Prohibition and Excise.

The other ministers are: K. Raju, S.P. Velumani, D. Jayakumar, C.Ve. Shanmugam, K.P. Anbalagan, V. Saroja, M.C. Sampath, K.C. Karuppanan, R. Kamaraj, O.S. Manian, K. Radhakrishnan, C. Vijaya Baskar, R. Doraikkannu, Kadambur Raju, R.B. Udhayakumar, N. Natarajan, K.C. Veeramani, K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji, P. Benjamin, Nilofer Kafeel, M.R. Vijayabaskar, M. Manikandan, V.M. Rajjalakshmi, G. Baskaran, S. Ramachandran, S. Valarmathi and P. Balakrishna Reddy.

Panneerselvam took charge of the government after the December 5 death of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

Sasikala was first elected the AIADMK General Secretary and then as the AIADMK legislature party leader to enable her to become the Chief Minister in place of Panneerselvam.

That's when Panneerselvam revolted, leading to the worst faction fighting in the AIADMK.

On Thursday, after Palaniswamy was told to form a government, a dejected Panneerselvam vowed to continue his fight to foil the AIADMK from slipping into the hands of "one family" -- an obvious reference to Sasikala.

The apex court's verdict on Tuesday scuttled Sasikala's hope of becoming the chief minister as it restored her conviction and a four-year jail sentence awarded by the trial court in the DA case in 2014.

The court also held late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa guilty in the case.

The ruling means Sasikala will be out of the electoral field for 10 years - four years in incarceration and six years of disqualification under the Representation of Peoples Act after her release.

Restoring the 2014 judgement of the trial court convicting and sentencing Sasikala and her two relatives, a bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy set aside the May 11, 2015 Karnataka High Court order acquitting the three and late Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa.

The court ordered the three to surrender before the trial court "forthwith".

Speaking for the bench, Justice Ghose commended the trial court for being "meticulous, sensitive, vigilant and judicious in appraisal ..." and that "we are of the unhesitant opinion" that the High Court judgment and order "suffers from manifest errors on the face of the record, both on facts and in law and is liable to be set-aside".

Justice Roy, in a concurring judgment, expressed deep concern over the "escalating menace of corruption in society".