Tamil Nadu acting chief minister O Panneerselvam visited J Jayalalithaa’s memorial at Chennai’s Marina Beach on Tuesday night, ANI reported. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Sasikala left Golden Bay resort in Kuvathur for the first time since the Supreme Court convicted her in a disproportionate assets case earlier in the day. She had been at the resort since Monday night with other party MLAs.
Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar also accompanied Panneerselvam to pay tribute to the late chief minister, and said this was her official entry into politics.
Meanwhile, VK Sasikala’s faction on Tuesday threatened to go on a hunger strike at the Golden Bay resort if their new legislative leader Edapadi K Palanisamy was not appointed Tamil Nadu chief minister. Officials said two members of the O Panneerselvam camp will meet the governor later in the day.
Sasikala’s legal team is reportedly preparing a petition seeking four weeks for her to surrender before court, citing health reasons, after she was convicted in a disproportionate assets case on Tuesday. “We expect the governor to invite us to form the government as we have 127 MLAs backing us,” an AIADMK MLA who supports Sasikala told reporters.
The O Panneerselvam faction, meanwhile, told CNN News18 that they will demand a floor test in the Assembly to show their majority. “We are confident of proving our majority,” MP Dr V Maitreyan said.
Earlier on Tuesday, AIADMK had announced that they had removed Panneerselvam and other members supporting him from the party. Tamil Nadu Education Minister Mafoi Pandiarajan, who had expressed his support for OPS on Saturday, said Sasikala had “no moral or legal right” to suspend anyone from the party.
Section 144 has been imposed around the Golden Bay Resort where several AIADMK MLAs have been lodged. Police had stopped MLAs and MPs, who support Panneerselvam, when they tried “to rescue” the legislators lodged at the resort. There were reports that the electricity at the resort had been cut off, though this has not been confirmed.
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