Panneerselvam again reverts to No.2 position

Chennai, May 23: For the second time in his political career, AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam was Tamil Nadu's stop gap chief minister till party's general secretary J. Jayalalithaa was acquitted in a corruption case. He now reverts to the No.2 slot in the Tamil Nadu government. Last September Panneerselvam, 64, a staunch loyalist of Jayalalithaa took over as the chief minister after she was sentenced by a court in Bangalore to a four-year jail term and a Rs.100 crore fine in a disproportionate assets case. Panneerselvam operated from his office in the finance ministry to show his "reverence" to his Jayalalithaa. He also said that his government was functioning under Jayalalithaa's guidance. But it was not a smooth ride for Panneerselvam as the opposition charged him with poor governance and agriculture minister `Agri' S.S. Krishnamoorthy lost his job over graft charges.