After O Panneerselvam revolted against Sasikala on Sunday night, she had met AIADMK lawmakers
Highlights
- Ms Sasikala summoned AIADMK legislators for a meeting on Sunday evening
- Shocked when Mr Panneerselvam announced resignation: AIADMK's K Manickam
- Mr Manickam is one of the few MLAs publicly aligned with Mr Panneerselvam
As the O Panneerselvam camp slowly swells in his power battle with AIADMK chief VK Sasikala, a legislator has alleged that they were made to sign blank paper ahead of a party meeting on Sunday where Ms Sasikala was chosen to be Tamil Nadu's next chief minister. Mr Panneerselvam has alleged that he was forced to resign at that meeting to facilitate Ms Sasikala's take over.
"We had no idea about the agenda of the meeting. We were told on Saturday that it was a routine meet to discuss constituency issues. We were shocked when O Panneerselvam announced his resignation suddenly," K Manickam, the AIADMK legislator from Sholavandan told NDTV today.
Mr Manickam is one of the few who have aligned themselves with Mr Panneerselvam in his revolt against Ms Sasikala. She still has complete control on the party with the support of the rest of the 134 AIADMK legislators. Since yesterday, she has isolated them in groups in hotels and resorts to keep them away from the influence of Mr Panneerselvam.
K Manickam is one of the few leaders who have sided with O Panneerselvam
Mr Manickam alleged that all the legislators had to sign "four blank sheets" ahead of Sunday's meeting, much in the manner, he said, that "our signatures were collected after Amma's death."
Hours after AIADMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Amma to her fans and supporters, died in a Chennai hospital on December 5, the most senior minister in her cabinet, O Panneerselvam was sworn in as chief minister. Ms Sasikala, Ms Jayalalithaa's closest companion, was said to have designed that move to prevent him from engaging in a contest for leadership.
On Tuesday night,
O Panneerselvam meditated at Jayalalithaa's memorial at Chennai's Marina Beach before dramatically declaring that he had been forced to resign. His resignation has been accepted and he now holds interim charge, but has demanded a chance to prove in a trust vote that he has the support of a majority of the party's legislators, many of who he claims have been privately in touch with him despite their stated support to Ms Sasikala.
Mr Panneerselvam will meet Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, who landed in Chennai this evening, before Ms Sasikala does. Just before that meeting he scored the important support of E Madhusudhanan, the AIADMK's number 2, who defected from the Sasikala camp and joined Mr Panneerselvam at his residence.
Ms Sasikala demonstrated her strength on Wednesday at a party meeting attended by 131 legislators. They were whisked away from there in buses and have been hidden in groups to different hotels and resorts to keep them out of Mr Panneerselvam's reach till she meets the Governor and proves their support to her.