Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy rushed to the holy shrine of lord Balaji at Tirupathi in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh late on Monday evening ostensibly to seek divine blessings to save his Government from any major crisis. He worshiped in the holy shrine late on Monday night and Tuesday morning and offered special poojas to propitiate the lord of the Seven Hills seeking stability and survival of his Government. Sources close to the Chief Minister’s Office said the pilgrimage was a pre-planned one.
Even as Palaniswamy stood with closed eyes in front of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and prayed to lord Balaji, the senior most MlA of the AIADMK (O Panneerselvam faction) declared at Salem that 12 Ministers and 35 MlAs belonging to the Palaniswamy camp were ready to cross over to the Panneerselvam camp. This means that the Palaniswamy Government has become a minority Government and its survival depends on the next move by the Raj Bhavan.
“We have an interesting development here in Tamil Nadu. The Government led by Palaniswamy has lost its majority as 12 Ministers of his Cabinet and 35 MlAs belonging to the ruling faction have expressed their readiness to cross over to the OPS camp. These Ministers and MlAs have understood the pulse of the party cadre and the decision is a fallout of the interaction they had with the electorate,” declared Semmalai while addressing a public meeting at Salem on Monday evening.
Semmalai (70) is the senior most legislator of the undivided AIADMK and was a close confidant of late MG Ramachandran, the founder of the party. When the AIADMK split following the expulsion of OPS from the party on February 8, 2017, Semmalai, who was the Protem Speaker of the present Assembly, had opted to be with the official faction headed by Sasikala. But he changed sides after visiting his constituency and decided to stay with the Panneerelvam faction “as desired by the party cadre of his constituency”. This former member of Parliament is known for his restraint and control of words.
Rattled by the revelation made by Semmalai, the Palaniswamy camp reacted sharply. CV Shanmugam, Minister for law and also a close confidant of VK Sasikala demanded the immediate disclosure of details about Sekhar Reddy, the controversial businessman who was arrested following raids in his house and business establishments during the tenure of OPS as CM.
“Why the authorities (read Union Government) are not revealing the details of the records and documents seized during the Income Tax raids on Sekhar Reddy’s residences and establishmentsIJ Who propped up Sekhar Reddy by awarding him Government contractsIJ”, asked Shanmugam while interacting with reporters at Chennai on Tuesday.
Shanmugam did not name the Union Government even once as the CM had instructed his Ministers during the last Cabinet meeting not to speak anything against the Centre.
The declaration by Semmalali and the response by Shanmugam are indications of an impending political crisis in Tamil Nadu. The EKP Government has the support of 122 MlAs in a House with a strength of 234 members. If 35 MlAs or 12 Ministers jump the ship, the EKP Government could be salvaged only with the support of Panneerselvam or the DMK.
Tamil Nadu is in for uncertain days along with the scorching Agni Nakshathram season.