Palanisamy to take oath as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India] Feb. 16 (ANI): Edappadi K. Palanisamy will take oath today as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister along with 31 other All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs. Meanwhile, AIADMK leaders reached Raj Bhavan for the Tamil Nadu cabinet and Palanisamy's oath ceremony. The AIADMK workers and supporters earlier in the day distributed payassam (sweet dish) outside Golden Bay Resort, after Palanisamy was elected as Chief Minister. Tamil Nadu Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao earlier in the day appointed AIADMK legislature party leader Palanisamy as the Chief Minister. "Governor invites AIADMK's legislature party leader Edappadi K.Palanisamy to form government," the AIADMK tweeted. The Governor has asked Palanisamy to seek vote of confidence in 15 days, the Raj Bhawan said in a statement. Palanisamy, along with Tamil Nadu ministers Jayakumar, K.A. Sengottaiyan, S. P. Velumani, T. T. Dinakaran and K. P. Anbazhagan met the Governor earlier in the day. The Governor heard competing pitches last night from within the ruling party of the state over who should be the Chief Minister. The Governor first met with Palanisamy, who claimed to have the support of 125 legislators. Next up was Panneerselvam, who claimed to have the support of 11 MLAs. Setting aside on earlier Karnataka High Court order, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court earlier on Tuesday convicted AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala in connection with a 19-year old disproportionate assets case. She also will not be able to contest elections for 10 years or hold public office. The disproportionate assets case that posed a legal hurdle against Sasikala's taking over as the Chief Minister dates back to 1996. Late former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and her two relatives, Ilavarasi and Sudhagaran were convicted in the case that alleged that the former chief minister owned assets far exceeding her known sources of income.(ANI)