Chennai: Strengthened by six more MPs supporting him, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam needled AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala while claiming that “several MLAs in her custody” got in touch with him on Sunday and pledged support to him on the floor of the Assembly as and when he faces a trust vote.
Emerging from his Greenways Road residence on Sunday evening minutes after Ms Sasikala addressed MLAs supporting her at the Golden Bay resort in Koovathur, Mr Panneerselvam said his camp would never allow the aide of late chief minister J.Jayalalithaa to be the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
“Several MLAs called me even today and spoke to me at length. They said they have been kept under captive custody and they can’t come out. Four or five bouncers follow every MLA and obviously they are scared. These MLAs will support me on the floor of the House,” Mr Panneerselvam said, adding that the legislators should also elicit the opinion of the people on whom they should support.
He also said he was not “intervening” as he was “very careful” in not precipitating a crisis. The Chief Minister also hit out at Ms Sasikala and her family saying late Jayalalithaa had always supported him whenever he had problems with the family members of the incumbent AIADMK chief.
“I was tortured by Sasikala and her family members for the past 15 years and I also explained last week how they humiliated me by first forcing me to take over as chief minister and then forcing me to resign,” he said, adding late Jayalalithaa was “never harsh” against him.
“All of us know Amma expelled Sasikala in 2011 and took her back in the party in 2012. Amma called all the ministers and told us that she has only taken Sasikala into her residence and all others remain expelled from the AIADMK. But what is the situation today?” he said, referring to Ms Sasikala’s family members staying with her in the Poes Garden residence.
Referring to Ms Sasikala’s comments that she was a lion, Mr Panneerselvam said he can’t stop comparing her action with a comedy scene enacted by popular comedian Vadivelu in which he gets on to a police van on his own and declaring he was also going to jail. “Will anyone call themselves a lion? Will anyone do such things?” he asked.
Mr Panneerselvam also questioned Ms Sasikala meeting journalists almost every day. “Why did she not come before the media when Amma was in hospital for 75 days. Till date, people have doubts about the treatment given to Amma, but she never spoke to the media then. But now she addresses the media every day. Why?” he asked. Caretaker Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Sunday said the government was functioning efficiently and that he would visit the Secretariat on Monday.
