TN CM Palanisamy to chair his first cabinet meeting today

Chennai: Edappadi K. Palanisamy, who took oath as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister last month, will chair his maiden cabinet meeting at the State Secretariat in Chennai on Friday.

Palanisamy had won the vote of confidence by a steep 122-11 margin after eviction of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) members and walkout by its allies from a chaotic assembly session following a political stalemate in the state.

Palanisamy is the third All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader, who took charge as the Chief Minister in the last nine months.

Late AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had powered the party to a rare successive term in office in the state in the May, 2016 Assembly Polls. After her demise, Tamil Nadu’s politics faced a major struggle of power with her aide, V.K. Sasikala and former chief minister O. Panneerselvam vying for the chief ministerial chair.

Sasikala’s loyalist Palanisamy eventually ascended to the throne after she was sentenced to serve the rest of her jail term in a 19-year-old disproportionate assets case. (ANI)