Nearly eight months after she was forced to quit over corruption charges, AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa was on Saturday sworn in for the fifth time as Tamil Nadu chief minister along with 28 ministers. On Friday, the 67-year-old Jayalalithaa was elected as legislature party leader at a meeting of party MLAs in Chennai, 11 days after she was acquitted by the Karnataka High Court in a disproportionate assets case. The swearing-in ceremony took place at 11 am this morning at the Madras University Centenary Auditorium. As many as 28 others will also be sworn in as Ministers. Jayalalithaa has retained old faces when she was chief minister during 2011-14. This includes her trusted aide O Panneerselvam as Minister of Finance, Natham R Viswanathan as Electricity Minister and R Vaithilingam as Housing Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami and P Mohan. The three held the same portfolios in the outgoing Panneerselvam cabinet. Barring three, including MSM Anandan who was the Forest Minister in Panneerselvam Cabinet, all others figure in the official list of Ministers released by Raj Bhavan. P Chendur Pandian, who is ill and designated Minister without portfolio in the Panneerselvam Cabinet, and Agri Krishnamurthy who was arrested over the suicide of an official are the two others who have been omitted. Including Jayalalithaa, who will hold the portfolios of home, police, public, all India services, general administration and district revenue officers, a total of 29 will be sworn in by Governor K Rosaiah. amil superstar Rajinikanth was one among a host of dignitaries present inside the centenary hall of the University of Madras as AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa took oath. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by BJP leaders including Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and national office bearer of the party H Raja.
