O Pannerselvam, a staunch Jayalalithaa loyalist, was sworn in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on December 6.
Highlights
- Like Thursday, Mr Panneerselvam went with top ministers this time too
- Agenda of meetings remains unclear amid new party chief speculation
- AIADMK spokesperson said Ms Natarajan is the 'backbone of Poes Garden'
Before starting work as Tamil Nadu's new Chief Minister, O Panneerselvam this morning again visited the Poes Garden bungalow of J Jayalalithaa to meet her longtime companion Sasikala Natarajan, apparently the new power centre in the ruling AIADMK.
Like on Thursday, Mr Pannerselvam was accompanied by several top ministers, all of whom are expected to join work today at the state secretariat.
The agenda of the multiple meetings with Ms Natarajan remains unclear but they come amid intense speculation on whether she will be selected to be the party's general secretary, the all-powerful post that Ms Jayalalithaa held for 27 years.
For years a shadowy figure who was kept deliberately away from the party and government by Ms Jayalalithaa, Sasikala Natarajan has been at the centre of political activity since her death earlier this week. The former video store owner, who has lived for years with Ms Jayalalithaa, positioned herself prominently next to her body as it lay in state at Chennai's public auditorium Rajaji Hall and also performed the last rites.
Controversially, her entire family was there too, including her husband Natarajan, banished years ago by Ms Jayalalithaa for acting as a proxy power centre from inside her palatial Poes Garden bungalow in an earlier term as Chief Minister.
After Ms Jayalalithaa's death Mr Natarajan is back at Poes Garden, but none in the AIADMK has publicly demurred. Party spokesperson Dr V Maitreyan in fact said, "At this moment of grief she (Sasikala) is allowed to have her family with her".
He also said that "Sasikala is the backbone of Poes Garden," in a hint that she has backing in the party, denying reports that she ensured that O Panneerselvam was made Chief Minister - his third term - in what has been described as a midnight coup in the last hours of Ms Jayalalithaa's life. Mr Panneerselvam and his cabinet took oath at 1.15 am on December 6, approximately an hour after Chennai's Apollo hospital announced Ms Jayalalithaa's death.
Not everyone in the AIADMK is said to be comfortable with Ms Natarajan's growing influence, but as the party grapples with filling the huge vaccuum left by the death of its unchallenged leader and sole decision maker, Ms Natarajan is seen as best placed to move into a commanding position - inside Poes Garden from where Ms Jayalalithaa ruled.