Edappadi K Palaniswami, Leader of the AIADMK Legislature Party, was sworn in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Thursday, ending the uncertainty over who will head the government.

The 15-minute ceremony conducted by Governor Vidyasagar Rao edged out O Panneerselvam, the caretaker chief minister, who rebelled against the ruling party’s General Secretary VK Sasikala after she bid for the top post earlier this month.

In place of the 32-member Cabinet under OPS, as Panneerselvam is known, a 31-member team has been sworn in with Palaniswami retaining his portfolio of minor ports and taking on finance and home, which were previously with OPS.

KA Sengottaiyan, Party Presidium Chairman, a new entrant to the Cabinet, got the School Education portfolio, which was previously held by K Pandiarajan, who was dropped for supporting the rebel faction.

As for the rest, the previous Cabinet has been fully retained without any change in portfolios.

Palaniswami is the third chief minister to be sworn in after the AIADMK retained power in the 2016 elections under the leadership of J Jayalaithaa, who was succeeded by OPS after her demise. Palaniswami claims the support of 124 members of the 134 AIADMK members in the Legislature but will have to prove his majority in the Assembly on Saturday.

Low-key affair The swearing-in ceremony at the plush, Colonial period Durbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan was a tame affair.

Apart from AIADMK supporters, some senior officials, the media and a few representatives from industry were present. Most opposition parties were not represented.

OPS faction moves EC Although the State finally has a chief minister after ten days of suspense, the infighting within the ruling party is not likely to settle any time soon. OPS has promised to continue what he calls his “battle for justice” against Sasikala for trying to control the party through her loyalist Palaniswami.

Senior leaders in OPS’s faction, including E Madhusudhanan, who was previously the chairman of the Party Presidium, have approached the Election Commission against Sasikala’s appointment as interim General Secretary of the AIADMK. Her election was not in line with party bylaws and therefore her subsequent decisions in the party are not valid, they said.

Sasikala is now in jail in Bengaluru, serving a four-year term after being convicted by the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a disproportionate assets case. She had set her sights on the CM’s post although she had never faced an election. Sasikala was chosen to lead the party on the strength of her three-decade association with Jayalalithaa.

Congress leader EVKS Elangovan said there continued to be uncertainty following the split in the AIADMK. The government should be dissolved and fresh elections called, he insisted.

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