Chennai: AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa was on Monday sworn-in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for a record sixth term and swung into action immediately by fulfilling some of the major poll promises made by her party during elections.
Governor K. Rosaiah administered the oath of office to Ms Jayalalithaa at 12.00 noon at a glittering function held at Centenary Auditorium of the University of Madras, as AIADMK MPs, MLAs and other leaders erupted in joy as their leader was being sworn-in as Chief Minister for a second straight term.
After Ms Jayalalithaa, her 28 cabinet colleagues took oath in two batches as the event come to a close in 23 minutes. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Union Parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union minister of state for shipping Pon Radhakrishnan and representatives from various walks of life including Kollywood.
Mr Venkaiah attended the event as the representative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was away in Iran on an official visit. But, Mr Modi took time from his busy schedule to greet the Chief Minister on Twitter.
In a departure from tradition, Opposition DMK was represented by its treasurer M.K. Stalin, senior leader K. Ponmudy and newly-elected MLAs, though they were seated in the 10th row at the auditorium. Draped in a green sari, Ms Jayalalithaa arrived at the auditorium a little before 12 noon and was waiting for the Governor to arrive.
Once the Governor came to the dais, she welcomed him with a bouquet, which was reciprocated by the Governor. Immediately after the customary welcome, the Chief Minister introduced her cabinet colleagues to Mr Rosaiah after which the oath taking ceremony began. Immediately after the swearing-in ceremony was over, Ms Jayalalithaa drove straight to the secretariat and assumed office and signed files.
