CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam Friday handed over his resignation to Governor K Rosiah, making way for AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa to take over the administrative reins . Popularly referred to as 'caretaker CM', this was Panneerselvam's second stint as Tamil Nadu chief minister , both for brief periods.At 8.20am, Panneerselvam, accompanied by the AIADMK's core committee members, went to Raj Bhavan and handed over his resignation as per schedule, ending his nearly eight-month stint. The Governor accepted the resignation and is expected to invite Jayalalithaa to form the government as per procedure. The AIADMK chief is scheduled to meet Rosiah at around 2pm today to stake claim to form the government. She is likely to be sworn in as chief minister at a gala ceremony in the city on Saturday morning.This was the second time that Jayalalithaa was forced to step down as chief minister. In September last year, she was disqualified as MLA and had to step down as CM after a Bengaluru special court convicted her and three others in a disproportionate assets case and sentenced them to five years' imprisonment. Panneerselvam was sworn in as chief minister shortly after that. On May 11, the the Karnataka high court acquitted her and three others in the wealth case, triggering a series of dramatic developments and making way for her return.In 2001 too, Jayalalithaa was forced to step down briefly after she became chief minister following her conviction in the Tansi case. Then too, Panneerselvam stepped in, serving a brief seven-month term as CM.Earlier in the day, the AIADMK unanimously elected Jayalalithaa as legislature party leader. At a brief meeting presided over by party presidium chairman E Madhusoodanan, 148 MLAs unanimously passed a resolution electing her as their leader. Madhusoodanan read out the resolution that merely said she had been elected legislature party leader.Barring two MLAs, including former minister S S (Agri) Krishnamoorthy, who was lodged in a Triunelveli prison, and Sendur Pandian, who was unwell in a hospital, the remaining 148 party MLAs assembled at the AIADMK headquarters in the city at 7am sharp. Madhusoodanan read out the brief resolution, drawing claps and cheers. Panneeerselvam then announced he would be resigning from his post as CM.The gathering dispersed soon after the resolution was read out and a core committee led by Panneerselvam went to Jayalalithaa's Poes garden residence to hand over the resolution copy to her. The occasion was marked by much cheer with seven of the rebel MLAs from Vijayakanth's DMDK too present to show solidarity with the AIADMK chief.