AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa will be sworn in as Tamil Nadu chief minister for the third time, at the University of Madras Centenary Auditorium at 12.15 pm on Monday.
She had ruled the state from 1991-96 and 2001-06. Ms Jayalalithaa got elected from the Srirangam Assembly constituency this time securing 1,05,328 votes. She is all set to reverse the DMK decision to shift the state Assembly and the secretariat from the historic Fort St. George premises to the Omandurar estate on Mount Road.
Earlier in the day, at the AIADMK party headquarters on Lloyds Road, Ms Jayalalithaa, who led her party to a spectacular trouncing of the DMK securing 146 seats in the 234-member Assembly, was unanimously elected as the leader of the AIADMK Legislature Party.
She then called on governor S.S. Barnala and staked her claim to form the government. The 63-year-old leader presented him a letter on her election as the leader of the AIADMK Legislature Party.
“My first priority will be to restore law and order in the state. The state’s economy has been totally derailed and there has been a lot of regression during the last five years. It is almost like going back to dark ages,” she said, emerging from her meeting with the state governor.
The state has to be put on the path of growth, development and prosperity, she said.
Ms Jayalalithaa said all issues would be addressed one after the other and assured that people need not worry about their safety and security, as law and order would be “back on track”. The hike in petrol price was “unfortunate”, she said.