As Panneerselvam complains of forced resignation, Sasikala's Tamil Nadu takeover lies in tatters

Many in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam are in a state of shock. When VK Sasikala, close aide of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, was unanimously appointed the general secretary of the party on December 29, her elevation as chief minister was expected to be the natural next step. Her election to the top post in Tamil Nadu’s ruling party evoked a meek response even from political opponents, and within the AIADMK there was close to zero resistance. So, when O Paneerselvam resigned as chief minister on Sunday to make way for Sasikala, it seemed like everything was going as per her plan.

But the waters have now turned choppy. Dissent has emerged from both within and outside the party, and has now turned into a full-blown revolt. On Tuesday evening, after a day full of public statements questioning whether Sasikala should be chief minister, Pannerselvam made his way to Jayalalithaa’s memorial and sat meditating in the full glare of news cameras.

Afterwards, he spoke to the cameras and shattered any belief that the party was unanimously behind Sasikala. Panneerselvam said that he had been forced to resign by Sasikala, and questioned the legality of her election as both general secretary and leader of the legislature party. He claimed that the spirit of Jayalalithaa spoke to him in order to save the party and the state and that Sasikala was not the right person to do this.

This means Sasikala’s hope of having a quick swearing-in lies in tatters, with the Governor rightly having the chance to question whether she truly has the support of the party.

Best laid plans

Earlier, preparations had been on in full swing for the swearing-in at the University of Madras centenary auditorium on Monday evening, with the ceremony scheduled for Tuesday. But Tamil Nadu’s acting Governor Vidayasagar Rao decided to go to Mumbai from Delhi rather than flying to Chennai, forcing Sasikala to wait longer before she could stake claim to becoming chief minister.

State officials in Chennai said Rao was likely to return to the city on Wednesday and the swearing-in could happen on February 9. Dismissing media reports, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said in Delhi that the governor had not asked for an opinion from him on whether he should administer the oath of office to Sasikala, who is facing multiple corruption cases, including the disproportionate wealth case against Jayalalithaa in which she is a co-accused. The Supreme Court is set to deliver its verdict in this case next week.

The ceremony may yet be held once the governor makes up his mind. But the ambiguity has given time for rare spots of dissent within the AIADMK to get louder.

Pandian’s posers

On Tuesday, veteran AIADMK leader of the MG Ramachandran era, PH Pandian, dealt a hard blow when he said Sasikala was unfit to become chief minister. This was the first serious note of public dissent against Sasikala from the ranks of the party.

Flanked by his son and former Rajya Sabha member Manoj Pandian, the former Tamil Nadu Assembly speaker raised questions on the way Jayalalithaa’s health was managed in the 75 days she was at the hospital before she died on December 5.

He questioned the very process that made Sasikala the general secretary, stating that according to the bylaws of the AIADMK, the leader has to be elected by the entire organisation and not just the general council, which had anointed her leader on December 29.

“When Jayalalithaa was alive, she did not allow Sasikala to become even a municipal councilor,” he said.

The AIADMK decided to field senior leaders Panruti S Ramachandran and K A Sengottaiyan to counter Pandian. They said the dissenting leader was a traitor who helped the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam file corruption cases against Jayalalithaa in 1996.

But even before they could finish their salvo against Pandian, a new front of attack opened in the form of Deepa Jayakumar, Jayalalithaa’s niece.

Addressing a press conference in Chennai on Tuesday, she said Sasikala’s decision to take over as chief minister has resulted in instability in Tamil Nadu. The people, and AIADMK’s cadres do not accept Sasikala as Jayalalithaa’s political heir, she claimed.

Promising to enter politics soon and contest elections, she said she would formally announce her plans on February 24, the birth anniversary of her aunt.

Multiple battles

The AIADMK has clearly come off as a weak unit in the battle ensuing in Tamil Nadu. Their standard reply has been that the troubles were orchestrated by elements opposed to Sasikala and that she had the support of the people.

The party has not made a single comment on the governor not turning up in Chennai for the swearing-in on Tuesday despite preparations being undertaken for the event. Even the barb by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam working president M K Stalin against Sasikala, when he said the people did not vote for those in Jayalalithaa’s household to become chief minister, has not been countered with the force that one usually expects from the AIADMK.

Making it even more difficult for Sasikala is the fact that no other major party has backed her. For the Congress, the governor’s action should have been a solid issue to pin the Centre down and cry foul about misuse of the governor’s office. But former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, in an interview to India Today on Monday, went to the extent of suggesting that the governor should use his discretionary powers to stop Sasikala from taking over as chief minister.

All alone

In other words, the AIADMK – or that part of the party that supports Sasikala – stands completely isolated. This has a lot to do with the negative public image that Sasikala and her family members have as they are viewed as the troublemakers who pulled Jayalalithaa into corruption cases. But despite being the party chief, Sasikala has not uttered a word on the developments in the last two days and has embraced silence as her strategy.

Adding to this challenge is the sword of conviction hanging over her head in Jayalalithaa’s disproportionate assets case. As the editorial in The Hindu pointed out, the eagerness to take over as chief minister could have been due to misplaced opinions that the Supreme Court would be lenient on someone holding a constitutional position.

With Panneerselvam, who was often seen as number two within the party when Jayalalithaa was alive, adding his voice to the dissent, Sasikala’s road to the chief ministerial post now seems a lot more bumpy.