Back to square one

O Panneerselvam is not Jitan Ram Manjhi. As finance minister in J Jayalalithaa's Cabinet, Panneerselvam broke into tears when he took oath as chief minister of Tamil Nadu in September 2014, a day after Jayalalithaa was found guilty in an 18-year-old disproportionate assets case. Now, when she is ready to make a comeback with an order of acquittal from the Karnataka High Court, he was seen beaming widely even as he is expected to resign from the post of chief minister soon. Interestingly, 2014 was not the first time when Panneerselvam was required to head the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government in Tamil Nadu. He was appointed Tamil Nadu chief minister in 2001, when Jayalalithaa had to go to jail in a corruption case.