Panneerselvam is new Tamil Nadu CM

For the past many months, Panneerselvam has been the bridge between Jayalalithaa and other ministers and senior partymen

AIADMK legislators Sunday elected Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam to succeed the jailed J. Jayalalithaa as the state's new chief minister.

The decision was made known after a meeting of the legislators in the party headquarters in the heart of Chennai. A party leader told IANS that Panneerselvam would call on Governor K. Rosiah later in the day.

The expected development followed a meeting Jayalalithaa had with Panneerselvam and some other senior AIADMK functionaries at the Bangalore Central Jail earlier Sunday.

Panneerselvam had become chief minister in similar circumstances in 2001 for a brief period.

A special court in Bangalore late Saturday sentenced Jayalalithaa to four years in prison and fined her Rs.100 for amassing wealth illegally when she was the chief minister in 1991-96.