: DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin on Monday reiterated his demand that Tamil Nadu Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao should direct Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam to prove his majority in the Legislative Assembly in the wake of ministers and prominent AIADMK leaders openly demanding that the party general secretary V.K. Sasikala must take over the reins of the government. Mr. Stalin made the demand shortly after AIADMK propaganda secretary and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambi Durai issued a statement urging Ms. Sasikala to “immediately” take over as Chief Minister.
Mr. Stalin also objected to Mr. Thambi Durai using his official letter head to make the political demand and heap praises on Ms. Sasikala. The act of the Deputy Speaker was embarrassing, he added.
Recalling his interview with The Hindu last week in which he had said that the Governor should ask Mr. Panneerselvam to prove his majority in the Assembly, Mr. Stalin said the office of Chief Minister was being belittled by the actions of the AIADMK ministers and Mr. Thambi Durai.
“If he [Mr. Thambi Durai] was under compulsion to prove his loyalty to the party [leadership], let him resign as Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha and issue as many statements he wants to [urging Ms. Sasikala to take over]. That’s his party work. But, I request him not to use his official position against the spirit of Constitution,” he added.
Separately, while replying to a query from a journalist on AIADMK ministers requesting Ms. Sasikala to become the Chief Minister, Mr. Stalin referred to the statements made by various ministers and said, “I don’t understand why the Chief Minister remains quiet about this.”
Meanwhile, responding to Mr. Thambi Durai's demand, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said, “That is his choice [to write the letter], his party...He could have avoided the letter pad, not the letter.”
