CHENNAI: "I resign. We elect Chinnamma unanimously as the legislature party leader," said Panneerselvam at an AIADMK party meet. General secretary VK Sasikala was unanimously elected to become the third woman chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place this week. Her name was proposed by CM O Panneerselvam and was seconded by the party MLAs at the party headquarters.
A total of 134 MLAs signed the resolution, backing Sasikala to take over as CM. Hours after the meeting, Panneerselvam gave his resignation letter to governor C Vidyasagar Rao, citing personal reasons for his move. "Accept my resignation and relieve the council of ministers appointed by me on December 6," he wrote in the letter. He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the governor for extending all support and cooperation during his short tenure as chief minister.
Earlier, the CM and other MLAs met Sasikala at the Poes Garden residence of the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, where she continues to live. While the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the government's activities, issues pertaining various constituencies and the manner in which Jayalalithaa's birth anniversary on February 24 is to be celebrated. Minutes later, Sasikala was elected, after which she said, "I accept your decision that one person alone should be the general secretary of the party and chief minister of Tamil Nadu."
Setback to Sasikala in FERA cases
Sasikala, meanwhile, suffered a legal setback when the Madras High Court refused to discharge her from three cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 1995 and 1996 on charges of violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) of 1973. The case relates to payments made in US and Singapore dollars to foreign firms for hiring transponders and uplink facilities for J. Jay TV (the predecessor of Jaya TV), which was earlier telecast under the logo of JJ TV.
Allowing two more revision petitions moved by the Directorate, the judge reversed orders passed by the Magistrate discharging Sasikala’s nephew and former Member of Parliament T.T.V. Dhinakaran from two cases filed against him on similar charge of violating the provisions of the FERA.
