AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa began her sixth term as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Monday in style by fulfilling five of her poll promises. Within minutes of her swearing-in, Jayalalithaa issued an important order closing down 500 liquor shops across the State and reducing the business hours of others. With effect from Tuesday, the retail outlets and bars would function from noon to 10 pm which currently remain open between 10 am and 10 pm. This is the first step by the AIADMK Government towards keeping its poll promise of bringing total prohibition in the State in a phased manner.
Immediately after being sworn in, Jayalalithaa drove to Fort St George where the Secretariat is located and signed five files to fulfil five of her electoral promises, as mentioned in her party manifesto. She signed a file ordering waiver of crop loans up to March 31, 2016 payable to cooperative banks. The waiver included medium and long-term loans of small and micro farmers payable to cooperative banks.
Jayalalithaa also granted 100 units of free power for domestic electricity consumers with effect from Monday in tune with the present tariff computation. She increased free power to handloom weavers to 200 units and for power looms to 750 units.
Another order was for increasing gold allocation from four to eight grams for underprivileged women beneficiaries under the Thallikku Thangam (Gold for Mangalsutra) scheme. From now on beneficiaries will get eight grams of gold in addition to monetary assistance of Rs25,000 to Rs50,000.
Earlier in the day, Governor K Rosaiah administered the oath of office and secrecy to Jayalalithaa in a well-attended and solemn ceremony held at the Centenary Auditorium of the Madras University overlooking the Bay of Bengal.
After the swearing-in of Jayalalithaa, 28 members of her Council of Ministers too were administered the oath by the Governor in two groups. Interestingly in 2015 also, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister on May 23 by Governor Rosaiah after her acquittal by the Karnataka High Court in the disproportionate assets case.
In another interesting coincidence, it was on May 16, 2011 that Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister after she won a landslide victory in the Assembly election. This year on May 16, Jayalalithaa was seen casting her vote at a polling booth in Chennai’s Poes Garden.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted and congratulated Jayalalithaa on her return to office. “Congratulations to Jayalalithaa ji & her team on taking oath. Centre will work closely with the new Government for progress of Tamil Nadu,” Modi tweeted within minutes of her swearing in.
Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Union Minister of State Pon Radhakrishnan were among the celebrities who turned up at the Centenary Auditorium to greet Jayalalithaa. MK Stalin, the DMK treasurer, who will be the new Opposition leader of the State Assembly along with ten party MlAs attended the swearing-in function marking a new beginning in Tamil Nadu where earlier leaders of the two Dravidian majors never even spoke to each other.
The city of Chennai wore a festive look with hundreds of AIADMK cadre arriving in the capital from early morning to get a glimpse of Amma (as Jayalalithaa is addressed by the cadre). The swearing-in ceremony was telecast “live” and all district head quarters had giant screens installed at vantage points so that the common man too could watch their dear Amma assuming office for second-consecutive term, the first political leader in three decades to get the honour.