M Karunanidhi, the leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, was sworn in as Tamil Nadu chief minister on Saturday morning at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai. Tamil Nadu Governor S S Barnala administered the oath
Standing by was his grandnephew, Union Communication Minister Dayananidhi Maran. Also present were senior Congress leaders Jaipal Reddy and Pranab Mukherjee. The Congress is a part of the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance.
The stadium was packed with jubilant DMK supporters, celebrating their party's victory over the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the Assembly elections.
However, AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa remain defiant as frenzied supporters greeted her at the party headquarters, where she said that the DMK-led government 'will not last very long'. She added that the AIADMK 'cannot be wished away, we are here to stay'.
Chaos prevailed both at the Nehru Indoor Stadium, where Karunanidhi and his 30 colleagues were being sworn in, and at the secretariat, where he subsequently made a short visit.
Police had a tough time controlling party workers who had converged in large numbers at the stadium much before the scheduled time of the swearing in ceremony.
Police personnel, led by Commissioner Lethika Saran, were literally lost in the melee at the stadium complex with the workers swarming in more than the capacity of the stadium. The supporters were seen fighting each other to gain entry into the stadium.
When denied permission, they started raising slogans against the police and even damaged a few cars parked nearby, in anger, police said.
At the secretariat, too, police personnel had a tough time making way for Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to enter his chamber. Scores of people including party leaders, secretaries of various departments and top police officers were waiting to greet him.
As soon as he entered his chamber, all of them pushed each other to jostled to get in. As the chamber was inadequate to accomodate all, Karunanidhi was taken to the Governor's chamber adjacent to his own.
The new chief minister received bouquets from well wishers and then left for his residence.
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