O Panneerselvam to be the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

Chennai: 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.