Jayalalithaa’s portfolios allocated to Finance minister O Panneerselvam

Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's portfolios have been allocated to Finance minister O Panneerselvam, the Raj Bhavan announced on October 11 night.

O Paneerselvam will also preside over cabinet meetings and arrangement has been made as per the advice of Jayalalithaa, said a
statement from the Raj Bhavan.

Jayalalithaa will, however, continue as the chief minister of the state till she fully recovered from her illness.

“Under Clause (3) of Article 166 of the Constitution of India, the Governor of Tamil Nadu today allocated the subjects hitherto dealt
by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to O Paneerselvam,” a Raj Bhavan press release said.

The Tamil Nadu police has enlisted private cyber experts to keep a watch on platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp and warned of stern action against those indulging in rumour mongering and spreading malicious content about Jayalalithaa’s health status. “We have formed a few police teams. And the help of cyber experts from private agencies has been sought. They will help the Cyber Crime wing,” a senior official of Central Crime Branch (CCB) of City Police dealing with the matter said.

The police have so far registered 43 cases and arrested two persons in connection with posting of “malicious and false content” on
the social media about the health of 68-year-old Jayalalithaa. Special teams, constituted to investigate such cases, were working to
identify those who had posted such “false and malicious content” on social media, they said, adding such “offences are liable to be
punished with rigorous imprisonment for more than seven years”.

Jayalalithaa (68), was admitted to Apollo hospital on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration. She continues to be on respiratory support and Nebulisation and is undergoing treatment for an infection, respiratory distress, and is being antibiotics besides other treatment under supervision of a team of doctors. 

Meanwhile, leaders of various political parties welcomed the decision announced by the Governor, including Leader of the Opposition, M K Stalin (DMK).