Six months after she was unseated by the Supreme Court, Jayalalithaa stormed back as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Saturday after she was sworn in at the head of a 27-member AIADMK ministry which had 13 new faces.
The AIADMK supremo along with her ministerial colleagues was administered the oath of Office and secrecy by Governor P S Ramamohan Rao at an hour-long glittering ceremony at the Madras University centenary hall. The outgoing Chief Minister and No.2 in the new cabinet, O Panneerselvam, followed Jayalalithaa in taking the oath. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by leaders of several political parties, film personalities and other VIPs, besides prominent partymen. Tamil super-star Rajnikant had also sent in his greetings to Jayalalithaa.
Jayalalithaa was unable to contest elections last May since she was convicted in a corruption case but became the Chief Minister after the party scored a thumping victory. The Supreme Court unseated her in September and the Madras High court, in January acquitted her in the TANSI case clearing the decks for her to contest the byelection in Andipatti from where she won last month. Bureau Report