Highlights
- Sasikala had support of 125 legislators, who were sequestered in resort
- Before verdict, two of them joined Team Panneerselvam
- A lawmaker described escaping resort by disguising himself, scaling wall
Even before the Supreme Court's verdict, which means VK Sasikala cannot become Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, she lost two lawmakers to O Paneerselvam, the man who challenged her bid for power.
Lawmaker S Semmalai joined Mr Panneerselvam this morning, taking the number of MLAs by his side to nine.
Yesterday, at the Golden Bay resort near Chennai where over 100 ruling party lawmakers have camped for five days under extraordinary scrutiny of Ms Sasikala, another lawmaker, SS Saravanan, climbed the walls and escaped.
The lawmaker said to get past the strongmen allegedly guarding the resort, he wore a "T-shirt and Bermuda (shorts)".
"I disguised myself, climbed the wall, jumped and escaped," he told reporters last night, cheered loudly by Mr Panneerselvam's supporters.
He also claimed that "all MLAs" are ready to join Mr Panneerselvam and implied that they are being held against their will at the resort.
On Monday morning, the Chennai police had told the Madras High Court that there were 119 AIADMK lawmakers at the resort and no one had complained about being forced to stay there.
Since the lawmakers were brought to the resort, 80 km from Chennai, in luxury buses, no one but Ms Sasikala and top AIADMK leaders had been allowed to meet them.
They could not be contacted on phone, which spurred allegations that their mobiles had been taken away.
Journalists and others were stopped by strongmen on the only road to the resort, which is surrounded by backwaters. Yesterday, a group of journalists alleged that they were manhandled and their cameras and phones were snatched.
Ms Sasikala and her supporters, however, vehemently denied holding lawmakers captive to protect their numbers for a show of strength.