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.
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.
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.
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