As Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Saturday got a boost, with an MlA and 4 MPs of AIADMK joining him after deserting VK Sasikala, the party chief threatened to hold a new type of protest with a new strategy on Sunday. She targeted Governor Vidyasagar Rao for the delaying her swearing-in as the Chief Minister.
Sasikala met the legislators supporting her at a retreat near here, and said that the delay by the Governor in inviting her to form a Government appeared to “facilitate split in our party.”
“The delay in inviting us to form the Government is an attempt to divide the party and encourage horse trading. We have waited patiently till now. The time has come for us to adopt a different strategy,” Sasikala told journalists late on Saturday evening.
In a letter to the Governor, Sasikala sought an appointment with him so that she could parade all the MlAs supporting her in Raj Bhavan. Though the AIADMK leader had submitted a list of 130 MlAs to the Governor, there were only 90 MlAs at the resort.
Her outburst came as MlA and School Education Minister K Pandiarajan and four MPs —PR Sundaram, K Ashok Kumar, V Sathyabama and Vanaroja — switched over to the CM’s camp, pledging their support to him amid mounting pressure from the party cadre and apparent public sentiment.
Meanwhile, Panneerselvam launched a signature campaign to make Veda Nilayam, the residence of late J Jayalalithaa, a national memorial in the honour of Amma.
Speaking to journalists, PR Sundaram demanded a CBI probe into the factors leading to the death of Jayalalithaa, while Ashok Kumar claimed that more and more MPs would join the Panneerselvam camp in the coming days. But the icing on the cake turned out to be K Pandiarajan, who had accused Panneerselvam of being an opportunist and hypocrite on Friday and former Minister Ponnaiyan changing their allegiance by Saturday.
Pandiarajan, who had been a vocal supporter of Sasikala till now, changed his stance by Saturday after seeing the public support commanded by Panneerselvam over the last one week.
“I am sure more MlAs would join us in the days to come. There is a feeling among some of the MlAs that they would lose their membership of the House if they supported Panneerselvam. Efforts are on to make them understand the provisions in the anti-defection law,” said Pandiarajan.
Ponnaiyan, who led the party’s regular briefing about Amma’s health status during her 75 days of hospitalisation, said Panneerselvam is giving “good governance..Free of corruption and winning laurels for his work from the people.”
Hailing the Chief Minister, he said, “It is only Panneerselvam who is competent to lead both the party and the Government in tune with the aspirations of party cadres.”
He said Panneerselvam had already been “selected as Chief Minister by Amma” and added that he was an “unassuming leader” like the Dravidian ideologue CN Annadurai.
lauding Panneerselvam’s administrative skills in governance, he said when the Vardah cyclone hit last year, he worked at a “higher speed than the storm and won the huge support of the people.”
Incidentally, Ponnaiyan was among the senior leaders who voiced support for Sasikala for the top post of General Secretary after the demise of Jayalalithaa.
“It reminds me of the crowd which had assembled at the Marina Beach for the Jallikattu agitation. There is no doubt about the fact that the general public and the AIADMK cadre are with Panneerselvam,” said Uma Anandan, a social activist.
However, KA Sengottaiyan, the new presidium chairman of the AIADMK said most of the MlAs were with Sasikala. “We are confident of proving our majority in the House or in the Raj Bhavan,” he said.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy called on the Governor, which the Raj Bhavan described as a courtesy call. later speaking to reporters Swamy said the Governor is constitutionally bound to invite Sasikala and swear her in as Chief Minister. “She has furnished the names of MlAs supporting her. If she has the majority of the MlAs with her, then there is no option other than inviting her to form the Government,” said Swamy after his meeting with the Governor.
By late evening, there were unconfirmed reports that because of the delay in the swearing in of Sasikala, her faction may meet soon and elect either Edappady Palanisamy or Sengottaiyan as leader of the legislature Party. “Since both of them are MlAs, there is no legal hitch in inviting them to be sworn in as the Chief Minister,” said a source in the Sasikala camp.