Panneerselvam Holds First Cabinet Meet, Sasikala to Lead Party?

Newly appointed Chief Minister O Panneerselvam chaired the first meeting of his cabinet in Chennai on Saturday.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@AIADMK_Official)

Newly appointed Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who assumed the top office after the passing away of incumbent J Jayalalithaa, chaired the first meeting of his cabinet at the state secretariat in Chennai on Saturday.

The party’s official twitter handle said that senior party functionaries on Saturday have urged Sasikala to lead the party on the path shown by Jayalalithaa.

It was also reported that party members have been regularly meeting her at Poes Garden for the last three days. She is going to continue living at Veda Nilayam, which is Jayalalithaa’s bungalow.

Earlier in the day, senior party leader C Ponnaiyan had said that AIADMK will remain united and the party will soon pick a new chief to serve the people of Tamil Nadu.

"We will unanimously choose a candidate for the party," he said.

A day ahead of the first cabinet meeting, Panneerselvam had met Sasikala, who is rumoured to have secured the reigns of the party. This was the second meeting between Panneerselvam and Sasikala since J Jayalalithaa was pronounced dead.

Also Read: Sasikala, Panneerselvam Meet 2 Days in a Row, Talk Future of Party

Also Read: In Jayalalithaa’s TN, It Is Sasikala’s Family That Runs the State

Jayalalithaa, 68, died after suffering a cardiac arrest at the Apollo Hospitals while undergoing treatment for ailments since 22 September.

The meeting is set to begin at 11:30 am when a resolution is expected to be adopted condoling the demise of the four-time chief minister Jayalalithaa on 5 December, party sources said.

The cabinet meeting comes against the backdrop of the allegation of main opposition DMK in the past more than two months that the government was "non-functional”.

DMK had on 7 December said that the government administration which was in a "limbo" in recent past should "start functioning now" with Panneerselvam at the helm.