AIADMK general secretary and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was sworn in for the sixth time at Madras University's Centenary Hall on Monday. The swearing-in ceremony started at noon with Governor K Rosiah administering the oath of office and oath of secrecy to Jayalalithaa at 12:05pm. This is the second time in 32 years that an incumbent Chief Minister is being sworn in for a consecutive term, with Jayalaluthaa emulating the feat of her mentor and AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran.
28 ministers led by Finance Minister O Panneerselvam were sworn in en-masse, with 14 ministers taking the oath of office in two batches. Jayalalithaa's cabinet has 13 new faces and includes 4 women including herself.
The Centenary Hall was draped in green, the colours of AIADMK, and saw a number of VIPs attend the ceremony. Opposition leader and DMK treasure MK Stalin, who attended arch-rival Jayalalithaa's swearing-in ceremony in 2011, was also present. Former DMK Ministers E V Velu and Ponmudy besides their party MLAs Sekhar Babu, Vagai Chandrasekhar and Ku Ka Selvam were also seated near him. Union minister Venkaiah Naidu greeted the Chief Minister soon after the ceremony while others present at the ceremony include CPI's D Pandian. Actors Nasser, Vishal, Senthil were also present.
Chennai wore a festive look, with AIADMK cadres lining the streets of Chennai leading up from Jayalalithaa’s residence in Poes Garden to the venue of her swearing-in ceremony. While the party flag was raised in numerous locations, musical bands and dancers had assembled at numerous points along the route. Supporters threw rose petals at Jayalalithaa’s motorcade as she drove to the ceremony.
The swearing-in ceremony was wrapped up in 25 minutes.
Here's Jayalalithaa's new cabinet:
O. Panneerselvam - Finance, Personnel and Administrative Reforms
Dindigul Srinivasan – Forest
Edappadi K. Palaniswami - Highways, Public works, and minor ports
Sellur K. Raju - Cooperation and labour
Thangamani - Electricity, prohibition and excise
D. Jayakumar – Fisheries
C.Ve. Shanmugam - Law, Courts and Prisons
K.P. Anbazhagan - Higher Education
.P. Velumani - Municipal Administration, Rural Development and Implementation of Special Programme
Dr. V. Saroja - Social Welfare, Nutritious Noon Meal Programme
K.C. Karuppannan – Environment
M.C. Sampath – Industries
R. Kamaraj - Food, Civil Supplies and HR&CE
O.S. Manian - Handlooms and Textiles
Udumalai Radhakrishnan - Housing and Urban Development
C. Vijayabhaskar - Health and Family Welfare
S.P. Shanmuganathan - Milk and Dairy Development
R. Duraikannu - Agriculture and Animal Husbandry
Kadambur Raju - Information and Publicity
R.B. Udayakumar – Revenue
K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji - Rural Industries
K.C. Veeramani - Commercial Taxes
P. Benjamin - School Education, Sports and Youth Welfare
Vellamandi N. Natarajan – Tourism
S. Valarmathi - Backward classes and minority welfare
V.M. Rajalakshmi - Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare
Dr. M. Manikandan - Information and Technology
M.R. Vijayabhaskar - Transport
Later on, the day it was reported that four more ministers were to be added to the Jayalalithaa cabinet. They are to take oath on Wednesday morning.
Animal Husbandry - Balakrishna Reddy
Labour Relations- Dr Nilofer Kafeel
Khadi and Village Industries - G.Bhaskaran
Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments - S.Ramachandran.
With these additions, the TN cabinet will have a total of 32 ministers.