VK Sasikala greeting supporters at the Poes Garden home in Chennai she shared with Jayalalithaa
Highlights
- Ms Sasikala continues to live in Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden home
- Mr Panneerselvam says it's the 'people's wish' to turn home into memorial
- He claims he was forced to quit as Chief Minister by Ms Sasikala
J Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden home in Chennai should be turned into a memorial, suggests O Panneerselvam, her most trusted lieutenant, now a rebel who is fighting to stop her long-time companion VK Sasikala from taking power.
The dart is aimed at Ms Sasikala, who shared the sprawling home with Ms Jayalalithaa for decades and continues to live there.
"It is the people's wish that Amma's home should be a memorial," Mr Panneerselvam or OPS said today.
The 24,000 square foot Poes Garden property, named "Veda Nilayam" after Ms Jayalalithaa's mother, is known to boast of spectacular luxury and opulent interiors.
Mr Panneerselvam has resigned as Chief Minister - a move that he said he was forced into by Ms Sasikala, who was chosen last weekend by the AIADMK to take over as chief minister.
On Tuesday night, Mr Panneerselvam visited Jayalalithaa's memorial at Marina Beach and spent a few moments in silence before dropping his bombshell. The quiet loyalist said he was the chosen successor of Jayalalithaa, who died in December, and he is ready to take back his resignation if asked by the party. He also said he is willing to face a floor test.
Since then, he has made a series of pronouncements that his critics say he has no authority to anymore. He also met the Chief Secretary and the police chief this morning, telegraphing that he remains very much in charge.
Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan was summoned by Ms Sasikala yesterday, but after consulting the Chief Minister, the top bureaucrat reportedly didn't go.
Yesterday, Mr Panneerselvam announced an inquiry to be headed by a Supreme Court judge into Jayalalithaa's death in hospital. Raising questions about the former Chief Minister's treatment, he claimed that during her 75-day stay at Chennai's Apollo hospital, he was not allowed to see her even once.
He has also written to banks asking them not to allow any AIADMK transactions without his say-so, insisting that he is the party's treasurer - a post that Ms Sasikala had removed him from after his dramatic revolt.
But Mr Panneerselvam has said that he does not consider Ms Sasikala more than an "interim" general secretary and that she has no authority to sack him as treasurer.