Edappadi K Palanisamy, Tamil Nadu’s third Chief Minister in the last nine months, was sworn in on Thursday.
After a tumultuous week, deciding the fate of the state, Governor C Vidyasagar Rao invited Palanisamy to form the government. The new chief minister has 15 days to prove his majority in a floor test in the state assembly.
In the wake of her conviction in the disproportionate assets case on Tuesday, VK Sasikala had stepped down as the chief of the AIADMK and handed over the reigns of the party to Palanisamy.
The 63-year-old MLA’s elevation to the post of the legislature party leader came at an emergency meeting called by Sasikala at the Golden Bay Resort, where MLAs supporting her had been holed up for the last few days.
Here’s a quick look at the life of Palanisamy, who has formed the new government in Tamil Nadu.
The MLA, from the Edappadi constituency in Salem, is regarded to be the party member that the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the late J Jayalalithaa, trusted the most in the Cabinet, after O Panneerselvam.
He is from the powerful Gounder community in Tamil Nadu.
Palanisamy served as the Minister for Highways and Minor Ports in the Tamil Nadu government, portfolios he has retained in his new cabinet, along with other key ministries.
Palanisamy was elected to Tamil Nadu Assembly four times – in 1989, 1991, 2011 and 2016 – each time on an AIADMK ticket.
Palanisamy, who first contested in 1989, had lost an election in 2006. He won the May 2016 elections purely on the money that he was able to get sanctioned for the Edappadi municipality for various development works.
In addition to his political appointments, he was also the former chairman of the Tamil Nadu Cement Corporation, the Salem Dairy and the Endowment Board, Salem District.
(With inputs from PTI and The News Minute)
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