New Chief Minister to chair first Cabinet meet on December 10

The meeting is set to begin at 11.30 am when a resolution was expected to be adopted condoling the demise of the four-time Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on December 5, party sources said. “Tamil Nadu Cabinet meeting tomorrow at 11.30 am. Honourable Chief Minister O Panneerselvam to chair the meet,” AIADMK said in a tweet through the party’s official Twitter handle on December 9. 

Jayalalithaa, 68, died after suffering a cardiac arrest at the Apollo Hospitals while undergoing treatment for ailments since Sept 22. The Cabinet meeting comes against the backdrop of the allegation of main Opposition DMK in the past more than two months that the government was ‘non-functional’. PMK had on December 7 said that the government administration which was in a ‘limbo’ in recent past should ‘start functioning now’ with Panneerselvam at the helm. After late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was admitted to hospital for treatment for fever and dehydration, C Vidyasagar Rao, the Governor of Tamil Nadu, allocated the subjects handled by the later to O Paneerselvam under Clause (3) of Article 166 of the Constitution of India. The Raj Bhavan had then, in a release, said Panneerselvam, who holds the Administrative reforms portfolio, in addition to Finance, “will also preside over Cabinet meetings.”