Being a proxy for someone is difficult enough. Acting as a substitute for someone as powerful as the AIADMK chief, Ms. Jayalalitha, is all the more tough. The discomfiture of Mr. O. Panneerselvam, chosen to be the ``stop-gap'' Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu until such time as Ms. Jayalalitha gets over her legal problems, was fully evident today, when he addressed a press conference after attending the meeting of the Inter-State Council here.