J Jayalalithaa sworn-in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister for second consecutive term Monday May 23,2016

Thousands of supporters lined the route as Jayalalithaa, along with an impressive convoy, headed to the venue in Tamil Nadu where she was sworn in as chief minister after a historic victory in the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections held on May 16,2016

AIADMK has won 134 of the state's 234 seats, while the DMK, which was virtually wiped out in 2011, has managed to win 89 seats. Its pre-poll partner the Congress has won 8 and IUML has won 1 seat and two seats elections (Aravakurichi and Thanjavur)were postponed for poll violations

Governor K Rosiah administered the oath of office and secrecy to the party chief and a 28-member strong ministerial council at a grand ceremony at the Centenary Hall of the Madras University, the same venue Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister the first time in 1991.

It was also the venue for her swearing in after her 2011 victory when she was acquitted by the Karnataka high court in the assets case

Among those who attended the ceremony were Union parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu, representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a host of VIPs and dignitaries from different walks of life.

Invitations had also gone out to DMK supremo M Karunanidhi and his son MK Stalin, as MLAs.

M K Stalin attended the ceremony, a first time the opposition made a presence at the event


Note

This is her fourth term in office as the Chief Minister. Earlier, she was served on the top post from 1991 to 1996, the second term was between 2001-06 and third from 2011-16. 

The Five Oaths of J Jayalalithaa

July 24, 1991  

With a dark cape over her sari — her uniform look for the next five years — Ms. Jayalalitha (she didn’t have the extra ‘a’ at the end back then) had scripted her entry, first as the AIADMK heir to MGR, and then in alliance with the Congress, aided by a sympathy wave following Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, won 225 out of 234 seats. It was after this swearing-in ceremony that some of her party men fell at her feet — a practice that is continued with discipline to this day. 

May 14, 2001 

J Jayalalithaa, who was found guilty in the TANSI property scam, was barred from contesting elections. That, however, did not stop her from campaigning. The AIADMK ended up winning 132 seats. 'Amma' argued that it was a mandate from the people for her to take up the post as CM. Governor Fathima Beevi invoked Article 164 of the Indian Constitution (which says the Governor has the freedom to ask anyone to become the Chief Minister) and invited her to form the government

March 2, 2002 

In September 2001, the Supreme Court declared her swearing-in ceremony was unconstitutional and void. She immediately stepped down and announced O. Panneerselvam as her successor. By December, the Madras High Court acquitted her in the TANSI case. Ms. Jayalalithaa lost no time; she contested an election, won with a resounding margin and walked right back into her CM’s office

 May 16, 2011 

Exit polls had predicted a hung assembly. The AIADMK instead ended up winning an absolute majority (150 seats) on its own. This regime would mark the beginning of her trademark populist schemes. She even started looking one step further in 2014: New Delhi. Except that her prime-ministerial ambitions were blown away by the ‘Modi wave’. Her party, though, ended up winning 37 of the 39 Parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu

 May 23, 2015

Just months after the Parliamentary Elections ended, trouble found its way to Ms. Jayalalithaa’s doorstep once again.

The 18-year-old disproportionate assets case had come to haunt her. A makeshift court in Bengaluru, in September 2014, sentenced her and three of her associates to four years in prison along with a hefty fine. Ms. Jayalalithaa became the first Chief Minister to be automatically disqualified as an MLA from her house.

The ever-loyal Mr. Panneerselvam stepped in to keep her seat warm, until the Karnataka High Court acquitted her and the associates next year.

Ms. Jayalalithaa ended up winning the by-election from R.K. Nagar by more than 1.6 lakh votes.