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Jayalalithaa to return as CM on Saturday: Party spokesperson

by IBNS 20 May 2015, 09:42 am

Chennai, May 20 (IBNS) J Jayalalithaa is likely to assume office as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Saturday, media reports quoted CR Saraswathi, a spokesperson for the ruling AIADMK, as saying on Wednesday.

Jayalalithaa was forced to step down as CM after a court convicted her in September last year in in a corruption case and sentenced her to prison.

But a recent judgement by the Karnataka High Court absolving her of all charges paved the way for the AIADMK supremo to return to the chair she had to leave replacing the present incumbent O Panneerselvam.

 Jayalalithaa was found not guilty of illicitly amassing wealth adding up to nearly Rs. 50 crore by the High Court. She must win a state assembly seat within six months of taking over as Chief Minister.

In a statement last week,  Jayalalithaa compared her acquittal  to a test that proves the purity of gold.  

 For the first time since her acquittal Jayalalithaa will appear in public on Friday in Chennai as she meets the party's lawmakers in what is believed to be a spadework for her return as chief minister of the state.

The former chief minister will first go to the city's Anna Salai to garland statues of famous political and social icons, including her party's founder, MG Ramachandran before holding a meeting  with her party's 150 law-makers, reports said.