(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK yesterday elected Finance Minister O Panneerselvam as chief minister to succeed the jailed J Jayalalithaa, who Saturday began serving a four-year prison sentence for corruption.
Panneerselvam, 63, who once ran a tea stall which is still with his family, once become the chief minister in similar circumstances in 2001 and held the post until Jayalalithaa bounced back.
The unanimous decision on Panneerselvam came hours after he and a few AIADMK leaders met Jayalalithaa at the Bangalore Central Jail and she told them to elect a new leader quickly to "assuage the hurt feelings" of the thousands of party cadres in Tamil Nadu following her jailing.
Jayalalithaa will file a criminal revision petition today in the Karnataka High Court to seek bail in the four-year jail term she has been sentenced to for corruption.
"A team of senior lawyers met Jayalalithaa yesterday in the visitors' room of the central jail where she is lodged since Saturday and discussed content of the bail application with her," an AIADMK leader said here later.
Eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani is being roped in to argue the case for securing an early bail to Jayalalithaa considering her health and age-related ailments.
"Senior counsel are studying the judgement for drafting the bail application. We have sought Jethmalani's services to secure the bail by getting the conviction stayed or lowering the sentence on health grounds," said the leader who declined to be named.
Though the high court will remain closed from yesterday till October 6 for the Dussehra holidays, a vacation bench will take up urgent or special cases on merits Tuesday and Thursday.
According to special public prosecutor G Bhavani Singh, only a high court or Supreme Court can hear bail petitions in corruption cases where the sentence is beyond three years. Earlier yesterday, Jayalalithaa told a few cabinet ministers who called on her in jail to convene a meeting of all legislators in Chennai and elect a new leader to serve as chief minister, an AIADMK leader said.
The meeting lasting a hour was held over breakfast in the visitors' room of the Bangalore Central Jail.
Jayalalithaa was jailed late Saturday after a special judge sentenced her to four years in prison for amassing wealth illegally when she was chief minister in 1991-96. She was also fined R1bn.
Jayalalithaa's lawyers are expected to meet her later to discuss remedies to secure bail from the high court.
After spending Saturday night in a special cell in the jail's women's wing, the 66-year-old Jayalalithaa woke up at 5.30 yesterday and took a brisk walk on the lawn.
"She is fine. She had sugarless coffee and went through three Tamil newspapers and an English daily that her personal assistant brought for her," a jail official said.
The jail warden, however, refused to allow a special chair brought from Chennai for the use of Jayalalithaa, who suffers from back pain.
"As per the prison manual, we cannot allow outside things like furniture unless the court permits and doctors recommend," the warden said.
In Chennai, DMDK leader A Vijaykant met Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah and sought protection for political parties in the state against violence unleashed by AIADMK cadres.
"I sought protection for all the parties in the state," Vijaykant said, after AIADMK supporters allegedly attacked rival political leaders as well as their homes and offices following Jayalalithaa's jailing.
Across the state, AIADMK supporters forced shopkeepers to down their shutters. Two government buses were set on fire. Traffic on the roads was thin.
But the situation was better in Tamil Nadu Sunday, compared to late Saturday.
Buses and shops were open in some cities but bus services in Salem, Cuddalore, Villupuram and some other cities did not operate. Bus services from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka remained suspended.
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