The Cabinet is understood to have deliberated on the ongoing Cauvery water sharing dispute with Karnataka, besides other subjects. For the first time after the Tamil Nadu Governor re-allocated the portfolios of ailing Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, state Finance Minister O Panneerselvam on Wednesday presided over a meeting of the state cabinet to discuss, among other matters, the vexed Cauvery issue. The government released photographs of Wednesday's cabinet meeting, where Panneerselvam was seen seated with a picture of Jayalalithaa placed on his desk. The nearly hour-long meeting was held in the backdrop of the ongoing Cauvery water sharing row with Karnataka and demands by Opposition parties for an all-party meeting on the issue. The last Cabinet meeting held by Jayalalithaa was in July this year to discuss the state budget.

Source: dna October 19, 2016 10:22 UTC