There was speculation that Sasikala Natarajan would take over as Tamil Nadu chief minister by January end
Highlights
- Sasikala Natarajan was voted AIADMK chief following Jayalalithaa's death
- She is referred to as 'Chinnamma' or mother's younger sister
- Top party leaders want her to take over as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
The ruling AIADMK has summoned its legislators to the party office in Chennai today and no agenda for the meeting has been announced, sparking speculation that the party may replace Chief Minister O Panneerselvam with General Secretary Sasikala Natarajan.
Ms Natarajan is not an elected member of the assembly but her take over as chief minister is seen as a given ever since she took charge as party chief in place of Ms Jayalalithaa, who had held both posts till her death in December.
Top leaders of the party have been demanding that 61-year-old Ms Natarajan, who was former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's closest companion for years, take over from current Mr Panneerselvam as "it's unwise for the party and government to have separate power centres."
There was speculation that Ms Natarajan would take over as chief minister by January end, but a handover of power was delayed because of the massive protests in Chennai and across Tamil Nadu last month over the demand to remove a ban on Jallikattu, the bull taming sport organised during the harvest festival of Pongal.
After her death in December last year, Jayalalithaa was replaced as Chief Minister by O Panneerselvam, 65, who had stood in for her twice earlier when she was arrested on charges of corruption. There have been calls in the past for Mr Panneerselvam to step down for Ms Natarajan, dubbed "Chinnamma" or mother's younger sister.
When she took over as the AIADMK's General Secretary, a post held by Jayalalithaa for nearly 27 years, Ms Natarajan vowed to function exactly like her predecessor "without even any minute changes".
Last week, in keeping with a Jayalalithaa tradition, Ms Natarajan met with her party's MLAs and MPs ahead of the budget sessions of both the Tamil Nadu assembly and Parliament. The key takeaway from her address to them was that the state government must expedite decision making.
Ms Jayalalithaa held both posts - chief minister and party chief - unchallenged, and this is the first time that the AIADMK has different people in the two roles.