CHENNAI: Chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday morning took oath as member of legislative assembly, a few days after she was declared elected in a bypoll to Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency in north Chennai. As per constitutional norms, the AIADMK leader, who was sworn in as chief minister on May 23 after an acquittal in a corruption case, should be elected MLA within six months. Sources said Jayalalithaa, who was to proceed to Kodanad for a brief stay, after the swearing-in, postponed her trip.
Mediapersons, including cameramen were neither allowed close to the CM portico nor Speaker P Dhanapal's chamber, where she she took oath around 11am.
Party MLAs and a few senior functionaries were present as Jayalalithaa drove straight to Dhanapal's office in the eastern wing of the main secretariat building to take oath. All cabinet colleagues including, O Panneerselvam, Natham R Viswanathan, R Vaithialingam, Edappadi K Palanisamy and P Palaniappan were present too.
Jayalalithaa won the June 27 byelection with a massive margin of 1.5 lakh votes. Her nearest rival and CPI candidate C Mahendran polled 9,710 votes and lost his deposit along with 26 independent contestants. Main opposition parties, including DMK, DMDK, BJP, PMK and MDMK stayed off the polls, alleging waste of resources.
Jayalalithaa stepped down on September 27 after a Bengaluru special court judge justice John Michael Cunha convicted her in a wealth case and sentenced her to four years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100 crore. On May 11, justice CR Kumaraswamy of Karnataka High Court acquitted her even as opposition parties cried foul over alleged glaring errors in computing the value of disproportionate assets. IANS
