Chennai: Once a tea stall owner, Jayalalithaa’s trusted lieutenant O Panneerselvam was on Monday sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the second time since he made his debut to the state assembly in 2001. The 63-year-old leader from Thevar community had held two key portfolios of Finance and Public Works in the Jayalalithaa Cabinet.
Meanwhile, an uphill task awaits the Chief Minister – to “move heaven and earth” to secure bail for his party supremo . Party sources said their legal team was doing everything possible to get the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court to convene a special bench to hear Jayalalithaa’s bail petition on Monday or Tuesday. Noted lawyer and former Union law minister Ram Jethmalani is likely to appear on behalf of Jaya.
It was in September 2001 that he was sworn in Chief Minister for the first time, and in the same month in 2014, the lady luck smiled on him again. But this time, the challenges are far more formidable, with the much-adored “Amma” stands disqualified, facing a four-year jail term in the Rs 66.65-crore disproportionate wealth case, and an uncertain political future. The party has to prepare for the assembly elections in 18 months.
Incidentally, Panneerselvam is the first man from the Thevar community to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Representing Bodinayakanur Assembly constituency in Theni District in the current assembly, Pannerselvam has risen from humble origins. His family still owns a tea stall he once ran.
He was also an agriculturist and began his political career when he was elected to Periyakulam Municipality. He went on to become its Chairman during 1996-2001. A graduate, he was elected to the state assembly in the 2001 elections and straight away was made the Revenue Minister by Jayalalithaa.
Panneerselvam has also served as the leader of the AIADMK legislative party and the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly for about two weeks, after the party lost the assembly elections in May 2006.
Jayalalithaa had taken everyone by surprise by handpicking him to fill her shoes in 2001 when she had to step down due to her conviction in TANSI land scam. The staunch Jayalalithaa loyalist chose not to function from the chair on which his ‘revered’ leader sat while he performed the role of the night-watchman.
He duly vacated the post after Jayalalithaa was acquitted in the case. But this time his selection was expected by many after she was sent to jail in a graft case as the stature of the leader, known for his unflinching devotion to Jayalalithaa, has grown in the party over the years.