CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu governor V Vidyasagar Rao handed over all the portfolios of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, to finance minister O Panneerselvam. As the AIADMK leader stays in the hospital, there have been several discussions regarding a stand-in leadership in her absence.
"Under Clause (3) of Article 166 of the Constitution of India, Governor allocated the subects hitherto dealth with by chief minister J Jayalalithaa to O Panneerselvam, minister of finance, personnel and administrative reforms. Panneerselvam will also preside over state cabinet meetings. This arrangement has been made as per the advice of the chief minister and will continue until Jayalalithaa resumes her duties," said an official statement from Raj Bhavan. The duties include the public department, IAS, IPS, IFS, general administration, police, and home.
The CM was admitted in Apollo Hospitals on September 22 with fever and dehydration, and a recent medical bulletin said she has been advised a longer stay at the hospital. Meanwhile, the Opposition is adamant in its demand for an alternative arrangement to run the state, saying the government lacked direction with the CM admitted for heath reasons. DMK president M Karunanidhi expressed his doubts over the Raj Bhavan statement. He said, "Jayalalithaa has been in the hospital for the past 19 days and was advised a longer stay there. Several leaders, including the Governor, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Congress-president Rahul Gandhi, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu and others, were not allowed to see or wish Jayalalithaa in person. However, it is amazing that the statement issued by the the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday said the reallocation of the portfolios had been done based on the advice of Jayalalithaa."
Launching a social media campaign to counter rumours about the veteran's health, the AIADMK started the hashtag #MyCMIsFine. The party is also using social app Whatsapp to send messages to over 1.5 Crore followers.
