Edapaddi Palanisami took over as the 13th chief minister of Tamil Nadu on Thursday.

Panneerselvam's supporters see the apex court verdict against Sasikala as a big victory for their chief minister. "Jayalalithaa" class="local_link" >Jayalalithaa and whether the party general council or the executive had authorised her in this regard.

Ahead of the Supreme Court verdict, Ms Sasikala, 61, spent the night at the five-star Golden Bay Resort resort in Mahabalipuram, 80 km from Chennai, along with about 120 legislators whom she has sequestered for nearly a week.

"As per the anti-defection law, if a few MLAs vote against their party in the trust vote, they may face expulsion from the House".

She has been ordered to surrender to the law enforcement authorities immediately to serve the remainder of her four-year jail term. "It is a Supreme Court judgement and we are all bound by the judgement", Chidambaram, who hails from Tamil Nadu, said.

Sasikala, who remained holed up in a five-star hotel on the outskirts of Chennai yesterday, managed to get minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, a loyalist, nominated as the AIADMK legislature party leader.

The southern Indian state has been without a permanent chief since the popular Jayalalithaa Jayaram, also known as Amma, died in December.

Tuesday's judgment has set the direction of the Tamil Nadu politics for days to come.

Yesterday, Mr Panneerselvam, who tweeted "justice prevails" on his Twitter handle, urged unity in the ruling party, which has four years left in power.

As of now, Palanisamy claims the support of 124 AIADMK MLAs, only six more than the majority figure of 118.

"I bow in humility to your love and affection", he said.