Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam said he was put under tremendous pressure and mental agony (by Sasikala’s family members) when he was (stand-in) Chief Minister.
“Anyone would have committed suicide. I withstood all that for Amma (Jayalalithaa)’s sake,” he told partymen at a closed-door meeting in Theni on Friday. Recalling the incidents that led to the ouster of Sasikala and her family members from the party (in 2011), he said only she (Sasikala) was let inside (Poes Garden) after her letter of apology.
“In fact, Amma repeatedly told me that they had all betrayed her. Once in three or four months, she would ask if I was in touch with any of them and would reiterate that I should not talk to any of them,” Mr. Panneerselvam said.
According to him, Jayalalithaa had vowed not to allow T.T.V. Dhinakaran into the Poes Garden residence till her death. He was also asked not to enter Theni district, he said, recalling how he worked for the victory of Mr. Dhinakaran in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections.
“He was an LKG student then. I had already spent a decade in the party. Now, he is claiming that he introduced me to politics,” Mr. Panneerselvam said.
In 2014 September, after the special court judge convicted Jayalalithaa and Sasikala and when they were waiting for the quantum of sentence to be pronounced, Mr. Panneerselvam said, Jayalalithaa had called him and (Natham) Viswanathan to inform the MLAs that he should take over as Chief Minister. “We both were sad but she gave us the courage,” he recalled.
Branded as traitor
“The one who is inside [prison] now was not happy with the decision, which was evident from the face. In 2016 Assembly elections, they [Sasikala and family] did not want me to contest and then worked for my defeat. They branded me a traitor, since I was loyal to Amma.”
“Then, after the verdict, they gave me innumerable troubles. There was no limit to my travails. Party leaders and Ministers sympathised with me and asked how he was managing them. If anyone else was there, they would have committed suicide,” Mr. Panneerselvam said, in anger.
“They think that I don’t get angry and I won’t speak. I am full of angst today. What I have spoken today is only about 1%. There is 99% left,” he said, promising to spill the beans whenever he gets angry.
The three-time Chief Minister also charged that the Sasikala family had exercised control over the party for the past 30-35 years and ensured that everything went through them. “They ruined the party,” he said.
