Sasikala stakes claim, all eyes on Governor

DMK working president M.K. Stalin denies reports that his party offered unconditional support to the O. Panneerselvam camp.

February 09, 2017 10:39 am | Updated February 10, 2017 03:39 am IST

AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala leaves to meet Governor Vidyasagar Rao after paying her tributes at the Jayalalithaa memorial, in Chennai on Thursday.

AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala leaves to meet Governor Vidyasagar Rao after paying her tributes at the Jayalalithaa memorial, in Chennai on Thursday.

Amid the unfolding hot political scenario in Tamil Nadu, Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao arrived in Chennai from Mumbai on Thursday afternoon.

Here are the updates:

8.55 p.m.

 

DMK working president M.K. Stalin issues statement disowning the claim of party deputy general secretary and former Union Minister of State Subbulakshmi Jagadeesn that the party would offer unconditional support to O. Panneerselvam, if the need should arise.

 

8.35 p.m.

 

Ms. Sasikala to speak to the media at Poes Garden on her meeting with the Governor.

Crowd outside Poes Garden in Chennai on Thursday awaiting AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala to appear.

Crowd outside Poes Garden in Chennai on Thursday awaiting AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala to appear.

 

8.15 p.m.

Ms. Sasikala returns to Poes Garden after meeting with Governor. Yet to speak to the media.

8.05 p.m.

 

Ms. Sasikala leaves Raj Bhavan after meeting Governor. 

AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala leaves Raj Bhavan after meeting Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, in Chennai on Thursday.

AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala leaves Raj Bhavan after meeting Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, in Chennai on Thursday.

 

 

7.30 p.m.

Ms. Sasikala meets Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, stakes claim to form government. She also submits list of MLAs supporting her.

AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala arrives at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Thursday for a meeting with Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao.

AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala arrives at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Thursday for a meeting with Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao.

 

6.40 p.m.

Ms. Sasikala visits Jayalalithaa memorial before meeting the Governor.  After paying floral tributes, she placed a sealed cover, presumably the list of MLAs supporting her, at the memorial.

AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala places a sealed cover, presumably the list of MLAs supporting her, at the Jayalalithaa memorial in Chennai on Thursday.

AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala places a sealed cover, presumably the list of MLAs supporting her, at the Jayalalithaa memorial in Chennai on Thursday.

 

 

 

 

6.00 p.m.

AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala likely to go to Jayalalithaa memorial before heading to Raj Bhavan. Ms. Sasikala is likely to meet the Governor at 7.30 p.m. Women cadres asked to go to Marina.

5:45 p.m.

On Thursday afternoon, an hour after Government Advocate V.M. Rajendran informed the Madras High Court that the 125-odd AIADMK legislators supporting V.K. Sasikala were at the MLAs’ Hostel, a visit by The Hindu 's correspondent showed that most rooms of ruling party legislators were locked.

 

5.30 p.m.

Mr. Panneerselvam leaves the Raj Bhavan after a meeting with the Governor for about 30 minutes. Before leaving, he promises ''good news.''

 

4.50 p.m.

 

Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Parliament premises.

 

4.40 p.m.

 

Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam arrives at the Raj Bhavan to meet the Governor. P.H. Pandian and K.P. Munusamy accompany him.

4.30 p.m.

"ADMK Gen Sec Chinnamma invited by His Excellency Gov Rao to meet at 7.30 pm today at Rajbhavan - Amma to be accompanied by 10 senior ministers! OPS saying he was coerced into proposing Chinnamma as leader of legislative party is a joke. He actually went overboard to fall at her feet!," tweets 'Ma. Foi.' Pandiarajan

3.45 p.m.

 

Former Union Minister P. Chidambaram says that the Governor could exercise a “window of discretion” to delay the swearing-in of the leader elected by the ruling party’s legislative group.

He says that while “constitutionally, the Governor is bound to swear in the leader elected by a party, which enjoys a majority, there is, however, a small window where the Governor can exercise his discretion and say that ‘for the following reasons, I would like to wait for a few days’. It [this window of discretion] has not been tested constitutionally yet, but it is, I believe, available to the Governor.”

Read Mr. Chidambaram’s interview with The Hindu ’s Nistula Hebbar here .

 

3.35 p.m.

 

Governor Vidyasagar Rao reaches Chennai and leaves for Raj Bhavan. Mr. Panneerselvam is set to meet him at 5 p.m. and Ms. Sasikala is scheduled to call on him at 7:30 p.m.

3.30 p.m.

Former Villivakkam MLA J.C.D. Prabhakar extends support to Mr. Panneerselvam.

3.15 p.m.

 

Former AIADMK district secretary and Coimbatore Mayor P. Rajkumar joins the Panneerselvam camp.

Jayalalithaa had handed over the State administration twice to Mr. Panneerselvam. Even when she was in hospital, he held her portfolios. It was, therefore, natural that he head the State administration, he tells journalists in Gandhipuram.

 

3.05 p.m.

 

Our Correspondent Sangeeta Kandavel reports:

School Education Minister Pandiarajan says Mr. Paneerselvam was not forced to resign.

''He was all fine that day. We unanimously chose Chinnamma. He didn’t oppose [the move] then.We will present our claim to Governor. MLAs and MPs are with Chinnamma,” he says.

Mr. Pandiarajan also denies that MLAs are kept in captivity.

 

PTI adds:

“We have been given appointment to meet Governor at 7.30 p.m. All MLAs prepared to meet Governor, if required," he says.

 

2.30 p.m.

 

At AIADMK headquarters, former MLA V.P. Kalairajan says, “Madhusudhanan only held Chinnamma's hand and requested her to take over as the general secretary and Chief Minister.Now, he says the AIADMK is a party of rowdys. His support to OPS means nothing.”

“OPS is a mere tea seller. What is his background? When the party split into Jayalalithaa and Janaki Ramachandran factions,  he was with the latter and worked against Jayalalithaa. Sasikala is no more 'Chinnamma' for us. After she becomes Chief Minister, she will become Amma!” he says.

2.15 p.m.

AIADMK Krishnarayapuram MLA's husband files a habeas corpus petition in the Madras High Court, saying he is not able to contact her.

1.49 p.m.

 

OPS reads out Sasikala's letter to Jayalalthaa

Mr. Panneerselvam says:

"When Jayalalithaa died, the view conveyed to me was that Mr. Madhusudhanan would be made the general secretary of the party. Since they agreed to this, I agreed to become the Chief Minister.

"But later Ms. Sasikala wanted to be the general secretary. After she became the general secretary, she wanted to betray the organisation by seeking to capture the post of the chief minister and instigating the Ministers to give interviews against me. These Ministers created a blot on the office of Chief Minister.

"Ms. Sasikala is saying that I have betrayed the party. But who betrayed the AIADMK? It can be known from the apology letter written by Ms. Sasikala in 2011 to Jayalalithaa when she was expelled from the party."

Mr. Panneerselvam reads out from a letter written by Ms. Sasikala to Jayalalithaa, where she declares that she doesn't want any ties with the party.

He says Sasikala first spoke to him 24 days after Ms. Jayalalithaa was hospitalised and it was the first instance where she spoke to him. "We are fully prepared to respond to any allegations which the other camp will level against us."

 

1.33 p.m.

 

Mr. Madhusudhanan arrives at Mr. Panneerselvam's residence. ''I have come to offer my support to Mr. Panneerselvam'', he says.  "The party founded by former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran should be saved," he adds.

 

Mr. Madhusudhanan, as presidium chairman, is the one who is empowered to convene the AIADMK's general council.

Rajya Sabha member Maitreyan says Mr. Panneerselvam has broken his silence after so many days and is the true heir of Jayalalithaa.

 

12.32 p.m.

130 AIADMK MLAs 'free and safe in MLA hostel'

All the 130 MLAs, who have allegedly extended their support to AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala becoming the Chief Minister, are "free and safe in the MLA hostel at Chepauk", government advocate V.M. Rajendran informs the Madras High Court.

 

11.58 a.m.

 

Sasikala not confident of retaining MLAs: Maitreyan

Mr. Maitreyan says that as Ms. Sasikala is not confident of retaining her MLAs, she has packed them off on a bus.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly M.K. Stalin urges the Governor to fulfil his constitutional obligations by facilitating a floor test as per law.

11.31 a.m.

 

Sources say Ms. Sasikala has sacked former Puducherry MLA Om Sakthi Sekar, who had voiced his support for Mr. Panneerselvam. 

In another development, former AIADMK MP K.C. Palanisamy says he backs Mr. Panneerselvam.

10.18 a.m.

Deepu Sebastian reports from outside the Chief Minister residence in Chennai:

Entry to the road leading to Mr. Panneerselvam's residence is restricted. But sources say it is a temporary arrangement. V.C. Arukutty, one of the five MLAs supporting Mr. Panneerselvam, reaches the Chief Minister's residence.

Director General of Police T.K. Rajendran and Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan were seen leaving the Chief Minister's residence.

 

10.00 a.m.

Support sought via social media

Seeking to turn the political tide in favour of O. Panneerselvam, the party's former IT wing joint secretary Satyan Rajan has taken to social media to garner public opinion.

In a Facebook post, he has shared the telephone numbers of as many as 132 AIADMK MLAs, along with their names and constituencies, requesting people to contact them and register their support for Mr. Panneerselvam, if they feel his decision is right.

Mr. Rajan claimed that the link he had created had crossed more than 5 lakh engagements in less than three hours.

 

 

On Wednesday

Political activity in Tamil Nadu peaked on Wednesday with Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam saying a judicial inquiry would be instituted into the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and AIADMK party general secretary V.K. Sasikala alleging later after an urgent party meeting that he had "connived with the Opposition."

Mr. Panneerselvam reiterated that he would prove his majority in the Assembly and appealed to all AIADMK MLAs to take a "firm decision, taking into account the feelings of the people in their constituencies" and Ms. Sasikala asserted that ''nothing can stop us from following Amma's path.'' Here are the top political developments that unfolded on Wednesday .`

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