Ministers take oath in chorus

The audience for the swearing-in of the Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was in for a surprise on Saturday when the Ministers chose to take the oath of office in batches and in not so perfect chorus.

After Ms. Jayalalithaa was administered the oath of office and secrecy at the University of Madras Centenary Hall, a number of microphones were placed on the stage. The Ministers, led by Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam, took the oath in batches. This was against the usual practice of the Ministers taking pledge individually.

Dress rehearsal

In fact, as early as 9.30 am, some of the Ministers tried to acclimatise themselves to stage conditions by standing in front of the microphones as though they were rehearsing.

Sources in the government said the idea was to keep the ceremony short.

Star-studded

The Tamil film industry has always had a special working relationship with whichever Dravidian party – be it DMK or AIADMK – is ruling the state.

The big surprise of the event was the presence of actor Rajinikanth and music composer Ilayaraja.

Actors Karthi, his father Sivakumar, Prabhu and his son, Vikram Prabhu and actor Arjun were present .

Actor Sarath Kumar, who clicked a selfie with Rajinikanth before tweeting it from his handle with a message: ‘At the memorable come back swearing in ceremony of the Hon CM’. “It was time for jubilation,” he said.

  There were however notable absentees such as actors Vijay, Suriya and Kamal Haasan.