Outgoing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam is perhaps the only politician who has made history by being sworn-in with his Council of Ministers thrice only to resign without ever occupying the Chief Minister’s cabin at Fort St. George or completing even a year in office.
In all his three short tenures, Mr. Panneerselvam, who has the knack of flooring people with his outward simplicity and his party leader with his fierce “loyalty”, functioned out of the office which he occupied as a minister. The Chief Minister’s office/cabin was reserved for his leader Jayalalithaa and perhaps now for Ms. Sasikala.
The tea shop owner from Bodinaickanur in Theni district first hogged the limelight on the evening of September 21, 2001, when Jayalalithaa introduced him as her successor, after being unseated by the Supreme Court. He was sworn-in Chief Minister the same evening.
Back then, no one took him seriously. Not even officials, as they knew he was only a stop-gap arrangement. In March 2002, he quit his post to pave the way for the swearing in of Jayalalithaa, who was acquitted by the Madras High Court in the TANSI land deal case.
His loyalty earned him the number two status in the Cabinet, dislodging the veteran C. Ponnaiyan.
Second tenure
Circumstances propelled him to the Chief Minister’s chair again in late September 2014 when a special court sent Jayalalithaa, Ms. Sasikala and two others to jail. A weeping Mr. Panneerselvam took the oath of office only to resign in May 2015 to again pave way for Jayalalithaa to lead the Cabinet.
Following Jayalalithaa’s death, he was sworn in Chief Minister for a third time with a full Council of Ministers at 1 a.m. on December 6, 2016, perhaps the only such post-midnight ceremony in the country’s history.
This time though, many believed he will have a longer innings as he had also earned the admiration of many sections for the way in which he handled Cyclone Vardah’s aftermath and the jallikattu protests (till the violence). There was a feeling that Tamil Nadu was breathing easy in the changed environment so much so that even Duraimurugan, the DMK deputy floor leader in the Assembly jovially quipped during the last session that “We (DMK) want only you as Chief Minister.”
But this tenure turned out to be the shortest for Mr. Panneerselvam and he may not be lucky again.
