Jayalalithaa announces cabinet picks, stakes claim to form govt
A day after she was elected AIADMK legislature party leader, Jayalalithaa met Rosaiah and gave him a copy of her election to the post.
AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa announced the members of her new cabinet on Saturday, two days before for swearing-in as the Tamil Nadu chief minister for the sixth time.
There was no surprise, as her 29-member cabinet is full of familiar faces and staunch party loyalists.
O Pannerselvam, who served as the chief minister when Jayalalithaa was jailed after being indicted in a graft case, is back as the finance minister.
The prohibition and excise portfolio, along with the electricity portfolio, has been given to Thangamani. N Vishwanathan, the outgoing minister who held these departments, fared poorly in the assembly elections.
MC Sampath has been named the minister for industries and Sellur Raju will take over as the labour minister.
Jayalalithaa also met governor K Rosaiah and gave him a copy of her election to the of AIADMK legislature party leader, staking claim to the new government.
She is likely to be sworn in as the CM for a second consecutive term on May 23 at a function at the Madras University Centenary Auditorium.
In the May 16 assembly polls, her party registered a major win, bagging 134 seats, the first time since 1984 when Tamil nadu voters preferred a party for a successive term.
AIADMK’s main rival, DMK, increased its tally to 89, and along with allies (Congress eight, and IUML one) has 98 members in the 15th assembly that will be constituted.
(With PTI inputs)