Jayalalithaa takes oaths as Tamil Nadu CM

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief J Jayalalithaa took oath as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the third time on Monday, after winning a thumping majority in the state assembly elections.

The iron lady of Tamil Nadu was administered the oath of office and secrecy in Tamil by Governor Surjit Singh Barnala at the Madras University Centenary Hall here, amid chants of her party workers and leaders for their loved Amma.

A total of 33 other ministers also took oath of office.

The high profile function was graced by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and several other senior leaders of various parties.

The 63-year-old actor-turned-politician stepped into the CM?s shoes for the third time along with one of the biggest cabinets ever.

Jayalalithaa will host a luncheon and finally step in to her office, the state?s old secretariat — a 400-year-old-building — shunning the plush new Rs 1,100-crore office unveiled by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government last year, at around 4 pm.

According to reports, among the first things on her agenda would be to selectively reshuffle her bureaucracy, tighten the law enforcement machinery and also perhaps head to New Delhi to meet Sonia Gandhi on the invitation of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson.

After she scored a huge majority over the ruling Congress-DMK alliance in the state, Congress chief Gandhi had congratulated Jayalalithaa, something which is unlikely to go down very well in the DMK quarters.

The invitation of Sonia is being seen as the Congress’s move to reach out to AIADMK.

Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu returned to power on Friday last as her party AIADMK along with the alliance partners bagged 203 seats against 31 by DMK and its alliance in state assembly polls.

Jayalalithaa, better known as Amma, said the state has to be built again since the outgoing government has ruined it completely.

On Sunday, she went to the Raj Bhavan and met governor Surjit Singh Barnala and formally staked claim to form the government, after the elected 146 AIADMK MLAs met on Sunday and selected her as the Legislature Party leader.

She said the state’s economy has been derailed by the outgoing Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) government and it has to be restored while law and order would be her first priority.