VK Sasikala, accompanied by ten ministers, met Governor C Vidyasagar Rao for 40 minutes on Thursday
Highlights
- Ms Sasikala meets Governor, stakes claim to be Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
- She stopped by Jayalalithaa's memorial to 'seek blessings' before meeting
- Earlier, Mr Panneerselvam met Governor, alleged he was forced to resign
AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala, accompanied by ten top ministers, met Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on Thursday evening and staked claim to be Tamil Nadu's next chief minister. Her party's O Panneerselvam also met the Governor, sometime before Ms Sasikala did and handed him a petition in which he has explained that he resigned as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister under duress earlier this week. Ms Sasikala has the support of most of the ruling party's legislators, but Mr Panneerselvam claims many of them are privately in touch with him and will support him if he is allowed to take a trust vote. The Governor has not indicated what his next step will be, but sources said Mr Rao told O Panneerselvam that he will "consult legal experts."
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
"Justice will prevail," said Mr Panneerselvam after he met the Governor for 15 minutes, five of those alone. Tamil Nadu's interim Chief Minister was accompanied by 10 AIADMK leaders, including party number 2 E Madhusudhanan and senior parliamentarian Dr Vasudevan Maitreyan, who said, "We are the real AIADMK."
Ms Sasikala visited J Jayalalithaa's memorial at Chennai's Marina Beach before she met the Governor and had tears in her eyes as she offered rose petals and placed a list of 134 legislators in a large envelope there. She later submitted that list and letters of support to the Governor, who she met for about 40 minutes. Her supporters have demanded that she be sworn in as Chief Minister immediately.
"The party is solidly behind Chinamma. MPs and MLAs are behind her," asserted AIADMK spokesperson K Pandiarajan. He also denied that Ms Sasikala, who is called "Chinamma" or mother's younger sister in the party, has held AIADMK legislators "captive" in hotels and resorts since yesterday to ensure they don't get influenced by Mr Panneerselvam.
The legislators on Wednesday were bused to hotels and resorts in and near Chennai and 130 of them have not been seen or heard all day. One legislator, SP Shanmuganathan, excused himself for a bathroom break on Wednesday evening before boarding the bus, and joined Team Panneerselvam, with whom he met the Governor on Thursday and complained that MLAs were being held hostage.
On Sunday, the AIADMK had met and decided that VK Sasikala will be the new Chief Minister. All of them including Mr Panneerselvam reportedly handed over letters of support, but his camp now claims legislators were made to sign on blank paper. Mr Panneerselvam sent his resignation to the Governor, but two days later dramatically announced that he was coerced to quit.
The AIADMK has 134 legislators in the 235-member Tamil Nadu assembly. Ms Sasikala needs the support of 118 MLAs to be Chief Minister. She has the support of more than that. Only a handful so far have publicly supported Mr Panneerselvam.
What happens next depends entirely on Governor Rao, who has been criticised for staying away from Chennai over the last few days. The Governor's absence allowed Ms Sasikala's opponents the opportunity to transform what promised to be a hitchless ascension backed by her entire party, into a political crisis. Her supporters say the Governor has therefore played a not-so-covert role in undermining her legitimate right to take over as Chief Minister.
The Supreme Court has said that it will rule next week on whether Ms Sasikala and Ms Jayalalithaa are guilty of corruption in a case dating to the early 90s. The Governor has sought legal advice on whether Ms Sasikala should be asked to wait to take office till the verdict is delivered.
Both Mr Panneerselvam, who was twice handpicked by J Jayalalithaa when she had to step down because of corruption cases, and Ms Sasikala, her constant companion of many years, have invoked "Amma" to assert they have the legitimate claim to be the Chief Minister, a post that she held five times.
Public opinion appears tilted in favour of Mr Panneerselvam. Ms Sasikala is being vetoed on social media and in Chennai for lacking any credential other than her proximity to Ms Jayalalithaa. She has never won an election either within or outside her party.
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