AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister of Tamil Nadu along with 33 ministers at a glittering ceremony in the centenary auditorium of the Madras University, which was packed with applauding party functionaries and special invitees including Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and TDP chief N. Chandrababu
Naidu. Governor S.S. Barnala administered the oath of office to the CM and her Cabinet. All of them took their oath in the name of God. This will be Ms Jayalalithaa’s third term as chief minister since she first took over the reins of administration in 1991, sworn in at the same venue. Dressed in a lovely maroon sari, she looked younger than her 63 years and was a picture of dignity and poise, despite the hour-long ceremony getting delayed by 25 minutes as the governor was caught in traffic, it cost police commissioner T. Rajendran his job. The new Cabinet has 24 new faces. Old timers O. Panneerselvam (finance), K.A Sengottaiyan (agriculture) and Natham R. Viswanathan (power) followed the chief minister in that order to take the oath. Apart from the CM, the team has two women, S. Gokula Indira and Selvi Ramajayam.
Hundreds of AIADMK followers watched the proceedings on big screens placed outside.