Jayalalithaa convicted; who will succeed her?

Names of O Paneerselvam, Senthil Balaji, Natham Viswanathan and A Navaneethakrishnan doing the rounds

After a special court convicted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Supremo J Jayalalithaa, under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the big question now is, who will be the next chief minister of the state? While nobody has any doubt that the remote control will be in the hands of the 66-year-old Jayalalithaa, unlike last time there are many names doing the rounds this time.

Among the names that are floating, current Finance Minister O Paneerselvam’s name is on top of the list. Other names include Transport Minister Senthil Balaji; Electricity Minister Natham Viswanathan; and Rajya Sabha member A Navaneethakrishnan.

Rumors are also doing the rounds that a non-political person (former chief secretary Sheela Balakrishnan) may be made the CM till Jayalalithaa clears herself of all legal tangles.

This will be the second time Jayalalithaa will be handing over the administration in the middle of her tenure. In 2001, Jayalalithaa had to step down as a chief minister following a Supreme Court verdict which held that she cannot hold the office after being convicted for criminal offences. She then appointed Panneerselvam as the interim chief minister.

In 2002, Jayalalithaa again became the chief minister after she was acquitted by the Madras High Court. She was later elected from Andipatti constituency.

Today's developments come after a special court in Bangalore sentenced Jayalalithaa and her close aide Sasikala Natarajan, her niece Ilavarasi and the CM’s disowned foster son Sudhakaran. Jayalalithaa will now lose her MLA post and will have to step down as chief minister. She also stands disqualified from public office for the next six years.

Case background
During her first tenure as chief minister between 1991 and 1996 Jayalalithaa announced she would take just Rs 1 as salary.

The charge against her was that her assets were around Rs 3 crore in 1991 and had grown to around Rs 66 crore between 1991 and 1996. The AIADMK was voted out in 1996 as it was perceived as corrupt by the people.

While BJP leader Subramanian Swamy first filed a complaint against Jayalalithaa, it was the DMK government which filed an FIR against Jayalalithaa for having assets disproportionate to her known sources of income.

DMK MP T M Selvaganapathy lost his Rajya Sabha post this year after he was convicted in the cremation-shed case by a CBI court. He was the local administration minister in Jayalalithaa’s government when the scam surfaced. He later switched sides to the DMK.