O. Panneerselvam

O. Panneerselvam (born 14 January 1951) is an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 2001 to 2002 and again from 2014 to 2015. He has been a trusted aide of AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa.

Personal life

O. Panneerselvam was born to Ottakkara Thevar & Palaniammal Naachiar on 14 January 1951 in Periyakulam, Tamil Nadu. He started his career as a tea stall owner. He also owned some agricultural land. He is married to P. Vijayalakshmi Naachiar and the couple has three children. He is currently elected from the constituency of Bodinayakkanur which is located in Theni district.^[1]

Political career

Early political career

He started his political career as chairman of Periyakulam Municipality from 1996 to 2001.

First term as Chief Minister, 2001-2002

He was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in September 2001 when the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was barred from holding office by the Supreme Court of India. During his stint as Chief Minister, he was widely praised for being as faithul to Jayalalithaa in managing the government as Lord Bharatha was to Lord Rama in the Ramayana. His tenure lasted six months, from 21 September 2001 to 1 March 2002. In March 2002, he resigned as Chief Minister and Jayalalithaa was sworn in again after the Supreme Court overturned her conviction and she won a by-election from Andipatti assembly constituency. From 2 March 2002 to 13 December 2003, he was the Minister for Public Works, Prohibition and Excise. Subsequently, he was also entrusted with the Revenue department’s charge from 13 December 2003 to 2006.

Leader of the Opposition, 2006

After the party lost the assembly elections in May 2006, Panneerselvam was the leader of the AIADMK legislative party and the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for about two weeks. In that election, he was elected to be the member of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Periyakulam. After all the AIADMK legislators were suspended by the speaker of the house, Jayalalithaa, who had decided not to attend the Legislative Assembly, decided to return and replaced Panneerselvam as the Leader of the Opposition.

Second term as Chief Minister, 2014-2015

In 2011, he contested as an AIADMK candidate from the Bodinayakkanur Assembly constituency and won. Again, he became the Finance Minister in Jayalalithaa's government and held the office from 16 May 2011 to 27 Sep 2014. He was again entrusted with the responsibility of being the 17th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 29 September 2014 when Jayalalitha was convicted in the disproportionate assets case. On 22 May 2015, he resigned as Chief Minister and Jayalalithaa was sworn in again after the Karnataka High Court acquitted her in the disproportionate assets case on 11 May 2015.^[2][3]

A year after his resignation, on 23 May 2016, he sworn in as Minister for Finance and Public Works Departments in Jayalalithaa's government.

References