Here's the latest on the power struggle in the AIADMK between the O. Panneerselvam and V.K. Sasikala factions:
Actor Lawrence thanks OPS for jallikattu
Actor Lawrence credits Mr. Panneerselvam for his efforts to lift the ban on jallikattu and hopes that he will participate the victory celebrations to be held shortly.
“Even though we protested for seven days, it was only because of him that the jallikattu ban got lifted,” he says, adding “We want to celebrate the victory of jallikattu on Feb. 18 and we hope he (Panneerselvam) too participates in it.”
Meanwhile, a little earlier Mr. Panneerselvam names a couple's baby as Jai Sai Baba.
Madurai MP Gopalakrishnan speaks:
Mr. Gopalakrishnan says: "Whoever Jayalalithaa has supported, even the public has accepted them. OPS is the hero of Jallikattu, no other politician has a right to claim. In a few hours we will make him sit as the Chief Minister again. The ones supporting Amma should support him."
"MPs will come and support except Mr. Thambidurai... MPs can take independent decisions since they are spread in different places... if allowed to make their own choices everyone will support OPS. In my constituency all my people are supporting him. They have asked me to thank him. Peoples choices should be given first priority and they support OPS."
'I escaped before Sasikala arrived'
Madurai South MLA Saravanan and Madurai MP R. Gopalakrishnan extended their support to Mr. Panneerselvam.
How did Mr Saravanan manage to come to Mr. Panneerselvam's residence, when all AIADMK MLAs where lodged in a resort, 80 km from Chennai? Mr. Saravanan answers.
* I am a cricketer and I planned and escaped before Ms. Sasikala arrived.
* I came out in T. Shirt and bermudas.
* We would eat three times a day there and we would secretly interact with the public through social networking sites and support OPS.
* If I can come, the rest will too.
In a short while after Ms. Sasikala concluded her speech, Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, Thambidurai, arrives at the resort.
Mr. Thambidurai was one of the early voices to support Ms. Sasikala for the CM post.
Sasikala speaks to MLAs at resort:
"I have brought my clothes alongwith me. I am going to stay with you here," says Ms. Sasikala amid thunderous applause from party MLAs.
Sasikala speaks to MLAs at resort:
She accuses OPS camp of threatening party cadres and leaders who are against them.
She recalls how MGR vowed to eliminate hunger. And how he introduced healthy diet in schools. Amma went one step further and started low-cost Amma Unavagams. "All these dharmam (virtue) will safeguard us," she says.
Sasikala speaks to MLAs at resort:
We have to be patient. It is our government. We have to run this government for the remaining four and a half years.
Sasikala speaks to MLAs at resort:
Tamil TV channels are saying you have be caged here in this resort. Are you animals to be caged? That is why I wanted to videograph this meet. To show how happy all of you are here, as a family.
Sasikala speaks at resort:
Ms. Sasikala narrates to party MLAs her days with Jayalalithaa when MGR was hospitalised. She recalls how 'certain party leaders' reluctantly called Jayalalithaa to campaign for the party when MGR was undergoing treatment abroad.
V.Venkatasubramanian reports from Kuvathur
Senthil Balaji, former Minister, was seen walking out alone from the Kuvathur resort on Monday evening while Ms. Sasikala was in conversation with the MLAs.
He left the village in a car. Till this evening, he was transported in a van along with other MLAs from the undisclosed place to the resort and back.
And it's official. The Supreme Court will take up the Disproportionate Assets case at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow.
AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala is a co-accused.
Ms. Sasikala has reached the Golden Bay resort. She will be interacting with party MLAs lodged here, reportsV.Venkatasubramanian.
An enclosure near the Golden Bay resort at Koovathur earmarked for the media, which is also camping in the area since last Thursday.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has given his opinion to Tamil Nadu Governor, reports PTI.
The Attorney General has suggested that Assembly be convened within a week for floor test to decide whether Mr. Panneerselvam or Ms. Sasikala has majority.
It is, however, not binding for the Governor to go by the Attorney General's suggestion.
The Governor is learnt to have been consulting legal experts before taking a decision.
Elangovan wants TN Guv to wait till SC verdict
PTI reports:
Senior Congress leader E.V.K.S. Elangovan today expressed hope that Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao will decide on AIADMK chief V.K. Sasikala staking claim to form the next government after the Supreme Court gave its judgment on the assets case against her.
"It is correct as a number of criminal cases is pending against Sasikala. In the disproportionate wealth case, the Supreme Court will deliver its final judgment in a couple of days. So I hope the Governor will deliver his stand after the judgment," he told reporters at the District Congress Committee office here.
Mr. Elangovan, a former TNCC president, was replying to a question on the stand of the Governor in not taking a decision yet on Ms. Sasikala's claim.
V.P. Kalairajan booked
AIADMK South Chennai (North) District Secretary and former MLA V.P. Kalairajan was booked under different sections of IPC, including 'criminal intimidation' for issuing 'death threat' to Chief Minister O Panneerselvam recently.
Reacting to it, Mr. Kalairajan alleged 'political vendetta' behind police filing the case.
Ms. Sasikala leaves Poes Garden residence to travel to Koovathur, reports Deepu Edmond Sabastian from Jayalalithaa's residence.
For the third day in a row, the interim general secretary of AIADMK is personally visiting the party MLAs staying at Golden Bay resort in Koovathur.
Crews of five Tamil news channels are part of V.K. Sasikala's convoy. It is likely that these channels will be given access to Koovathur resort.
AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala addresses the media at Poes Garden.
* I spoke to Mr. Panneerselvam on the day of Jayalalithaa's death.
* I asked him to take over as the Chief Minister, though he wanted me to be the CM. But I refused.
* Jayalalithaa was not interested in politics after the demise of MGR.
* You would know how Jayalalithaa was humiliated during MGR's last journey. No one spoke in favour of her then.
* An army personnel guided Jayalalithaa to place wreath on the body of MGR.
* Jeppiar assaulted Jayalalithaa. Dinakaran and I rescued her. The then Chennai Commissioner Sripal suggested Jayalalithaa to go home as he said there was a conspiracy to attack her.
* I was there with Jayalalithaa when she went through tough times.
* I was involved in party activities and coalition talks. I could have become Chief Minister whenever I wanted but I did not do that.
* I was not happy with the way Mr. Panneerselvam conducted himself in the Assembly. He was moving too close with the DMK, a party which was against Puratchi Thalaivar.
* I was shocked to see Duraimurugan (DMK leader) praising Mr. Panneerselvam while he remained mute. Had he spoke against DMK, I would have not stepped in at all.
* I wanted the party cadres and people to know the truth. I am even ready to die for the party.
* People ask me "you are a woman, how will you manage," I would say "two women ran the party for 33 years."
*We will form the government, rule the State for four years, open Amma's portrait in the Assembly and win for the third consecutive time.
*I thank all those who are behind me.
An ambulance from a private hospital went inside the resort on Monday, reports V.Venkatasubramanian from outside the Golden Bay resort, where AIADMK MLAs are staying.
A public interest litigation has been filed in Supreme Court seeking to order Tamil Nadu Governor to invite Ms. Sasikala within 24 hours to form government in the State.
The PIL was filed by one A.L. Sharma, the AIADMK's official handle has tweeted.
Panneerselvam arrives at Secretariat
Amid the intense battle for power, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam today arrived at the state Secretariat where he is expected to hold talks with senior officials.
This is Mr. Panneerselvam's first visit to the Secretariat after his resignation on February 5 and being asked by Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao to continue till alternative arrangements are made.
Mr. Panneerselvam, who has revolted against AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala and seeking to thwart her bid to become the Chief Minister, is scheduled to hold talks with officials on key issues. School Education Minister K Pandiarajan also accompanied him.
While disagreeing with a suggestion that the administration in the state has come to a standstill due to the ongoing political crisis, he had yesterday said he had been meeting officials everyday and that he would visit the secretariat today.
Both the factions of the AIADMK have presented their case before Governor Vidyasagar Rao, who is reportedly waiting for the Supreme Court's verdict on the Disproportionate Assets case in which AIADMK general secretary Sasikala is a co-accused. Here we take a look at the various legal cases Ms. Sasikala faces.
T.K. Rohit reports:
Mr. Panneerselvam is about to to leave for the Secretariat. V. Ponraj, former scientific adviser to late President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, has joined Mr. Panneerselvam's camp. "We need to decide whether we need family politics or honest politics," he says. "OPS [Mr. Panneerselvam] was hand-picked by Amma."
He adds: "Mr. Panneerselvam respected the sentiments of youngsters on jallikattu and went to Delhi. He was forced to resign and is fighting against those who betrayed him."
News agency ANI says DMK working president M.K. Stalin has reached the Secretariat.
Dr. Kannagi Baskaran, an AIADMK functionary from Madurai, has become the first person to openly extend her support for Mr. Panneerselvam. She was a councillor in Madurai Corporation.
Sanjay Vijayakumar reports:
Former Minister Vaigai Selvan says he's expecting the Governor to take a call by evening and confident that Ms. Sasikala will be sworn in as Chief Minister soon. "The BJP and the DMK are behind the delay," he says.
He says Mr. Panneerselvam cannot prove that he has the support of the majority.
T.K. Rohit reports:
Mr. Panneerselvam to visit the Secretariat around noon. There is heavy deployment of police personnel in the area.
Supporters of Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam wait outside his residence on Greenways Road.
Top players and numbers in both camps
A look at the top players in both the camps. The Panneerselvam faction has the support of 7 MLAs while Sasikala's has 127.
On Sunday
Five Lok Sabha members and one Rajya Sabha member joined Mr. Panneerselvam’s faction, taking the number of MPs supporting his cause to 10. The Lok Sabha MPs who switched camps were B. Senguttuvan (Vellore), J. Jayasingh Thiyagaraj Natterjee (Thoothukudi), R.P. Marutharajaa (Perambalur), S. Rajendran (Villupuram) and Parthiban (Theni).
Mr. Panneerselvam said the 129 MLAs staying in a private resort should be released and they should meet people in their respective constituencies to get a sense of the public mood.
“Let her release them...so that they can go to their respective constituencies and meet the people and take a good decision,” he told reporters.
Stressing that the Tamil people were well aware of the current political scenario, he said, “Not only in India, people across the globe are monitoring the situation.”
Ms. Sasikala said, “It showed their dedication to this movement. I was moved.. they [all the MLAs] are keen that there should not be slightest impediment to the AIADMK and the government.”
Alleging that those who had defected and political rivals were "spreading falsehood" that the MLAs were being held hostage, the AIADMK general secretary insisted that neither their free movement nor their freedom of expression had been hindered. “They are in touch with their families over phone”, she said. Here's a minute-by-minute account of the developments on Sunday .
