A heated day in Tamil Nadu: Political meetings, income tax raids and posters near AIADMK office

In a day of fast developments in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Thursday met Sasikala Natarajan, the close aide of deceased chief minister Jayalalithaa, at Chennai’s Poes Garden in a discussion that lasted two hours.

Meanwhile in New Delhi, Tamil Nadu acting Governor Vidyasagar Rao was closeted in a meeting with Union Minister Rajnath Singh.

Even as such high-voltage political meetings were taking place, reports emerged that the Income Tax department has raided houses of J Sekhar Reddy, a contractor and businessman known to be acquainted to members of the Sasikala family and other All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders, including Panneerselvam.

The developments have sent ripples through political circles in Tamil Nadu with speculation rife about the role the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre is playing in the transition after Jayalalithaa’s death on Monday after a long spell in hospital.

OPS meets Sasikala

After two days of a lull, Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence, where Sasikala is still staying, was abuzz with activity on Thursday.

For the first time, parts of the house were thrown open to the public, so admirers began trickling in to pay tribute to the charismatic leader who passed away on Monday.

But in the afternoon, the gates were shut after Panneerselvam and senior ministers C Srinivasan and Edapadi K Palanisami entered the residence.

When they emerged two hours later, they refused to speak to the media . AIADMK officials said this meeting with Sasikala was preceded by a meeting of ministers at chief minister’s residence.

AIADMK circles were also tight-lipped about the nature of discussions between Sasikala and Panneerselvam. But the meeting took place a little after news broke about the Income Tax raids on eight locations across the state connected with businessman Sekhar Reddy. The authorities reportedly recovered Rs 90 crore and over 100 kilograms of gold in the raids.

In 2014, Sekhar Reddy was appointed in 2014 to the board of trustees of the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam board in Andhra Pradesh as a representative of Tamil Nadu.

With the post of general secretary in the AIADMK becoming vacant after the death of Jayalalithaa, there seems to be much wrangling over who will assume the party’s highest office.

As the chief minister’s post has gone to Panneerselvam, who belongs to the Thevar community, another powerful group in the AIADMK that consists of Kongu Vellalars is vying for the general secretary post.

Meanwhile, AIADMK partymen were taken by surprise in the morning when posters demanding that Sasikala be made the general secretary were stuck outside party headquarters on Avvai Shanmugam Road. AIADMK spokespersons have also begun addressing Sasikala as “chinna amma” (younger mother) on television debates. Jayalalithaa was known as Amma.