O Panneerselvam, who has taken reins of Tamil Nadu government administration following the sudden death of her mentor Jayalalithaa, it seems insecurity is haunting him. He is aware that as a stop-gap arrangement only Sasikala facilitated for his appointment as Chief Minister and she is determined to come to the ladder at an appropriate time at earliest.
That’s why, according to sources, forgetting his strained relationship with her, he is trying to be in her good looks. His frequent `consultations’ with her and last night’s open support seeking to elevate her as the general secretary of the AIADMK are said to be aimed at to ensure his continuation as long as possible.
In a late-night statement has said that “If the AIADMK is to continue as a movement with military discipline, the only way out is Sasikala taking over as the general secretary and leading the party. There is no differing view in the party on this. If anyone expresses any contradictory view, that person is not a cadre of this party.”
Panneerselvam may have been made Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu but everyone are aware that Sasikala is waiting in the wings. Even before Jayalalithaa was officially declared dead, Sasikala’s people had swung into action, collecting signatures of AIADMK MLAs on a blank sheet of paper.
Though later some MLAs refuted stating no signature was taken on a blank paper, it was felt their real intention was to submit these signatures to the governor, proposing Sasikala as chief minister. But the coup got derailed when several MLAs protested.
As a compromise, Panneerselvam, who is from the Thevar community like Sasikala, was named as Chief Minister. However, according to Sasikala’s loyalists Panneerselvam is likely to remain a stop-gap Chief Minister.
Sasikala seems to be clearly indicated her intention to senior party leaders that she plans to contest from Jayalalithaa’s Assembly constituency R K Nagar to gradually strengthen her claim on succeeding Jayalalithaa.
