Super star Rajinikanth and BJP leaders attended the swearing in ceremony of J Jayalalithaa as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Saturday morning.

Jayalalithaa was sworn in first and later the rest of her cabinet colleagues took oath administered by governor K Rosaiah the Centenary Auditorium of the University of Madras. This was perhaps the first time that all the ministers took oath in one single group.

 The ceremony marked her return to the chief minister's chair, about a fortnight after the Karnataka High Court acquitted her in the disproportionate assets case.

The historic auditorium was swelling with over 3,500 special invitees. Actor Rajinikanth, who lives in the neighbourhood, had left for the venue ahead of Jayalalithaa. Thespian Sivaji Ganesan's sons Prabhu and Ramkumar were among the special invities. Representing the industry were India Cements managing director N Srinivasan and A C Muthaiah of SPIC. The ceremony saw the presence of a galaxy of national and state political leaders, film stars and industrialists, and also conspicuous absence of the opposition parties like DMK.

Hundreds of party men from far off places thronged the venue since morning to get a glimpse of the leader. Hundreds waited outside Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence since early morning. When she came out at 10.30 am, women offered 'aarti' and showered flower petals on her vehicle. Party functionaries bowed, some prostrated on the road as her cavalcade passed.

Huge banners hailing the AIADMK supremo dotted Wallajah Road and Kamarajar Salai, causing much inconvenience to the road-users.