Just after Jayalalithaa was unanimously elected AIADMK legislature party leader, her trusted lieutenant O Panneerselvam announced his resignation as chief minister, ending his nearly eight-month-long stint.
“I have resigned as Chief Minister,” he told party MLAs at the meeting convened to elect Jayalalithaa as the legislature party leader, paving her way to return at the helm.
Panneerselvam was sworn-in as chief minister on September 29 last year, two days after Jayalalithaa was unseated from the post when the trial court in Karnataka convicted her in a graft case. She was automatically disqualified from being a member of the Assembly and contesting elections for 10 years from that time.
