Sources have stated that Edappadi K. Palaniswami took over as Tamil Nadu’s 29th Chief Minister on Thursday. He heads a 31 Member Cabinet. Except O. Panneerselvam and Ma Foi K. Pandiarajan, Mr. Palaniswami has retained the outgoing Council of Ministers. K. A. Sengottaiyan is the only new inductee. Mr. Palaniswami is given 15 days to prove his majority.
The Governor’s invitation came "in acceptance" of the lettersubmitted by Mr. Palaniswami on February 1st. The supporters of Mr. Panneerselvam and Law Minister C. Ve. Shanmugam have pelt stones at each other. Mr. Shanmugam is Mr. Panneerselvam’s neighbor. The Former Minister K.P. Munusamy condemns the incident saying till the time Mr. Panneerselvam was CM and there were no incidents of violence even as thousands of people used to visit his residence.
“Within one hour of Palaniswami’s taking over, an AIADMK cadre has been attacked. They have attacked their own party man. How will they maintain law and order? We have started a peaceful protest,” he says. "This is not against (the MLAs)... It is against the family that is controlling you."
The AIADMK’s new Legislature Party leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who is the Minister for Public Works, State Highways and Minor Ports, has been a staunch loyalist of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo Jayalalitha since the time she entered active politics in the 1980s. Now, the biggest litmus test is, he should prove majority within 15 days.
