Chennai: With the Supreme Court verdict in the disproportionate assets case, the overweening ambition of J Jayalalithaa‘s aide Sasikala to take her place as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has been dashed. VK Sasikala has been rendered ineligible to stand in an election for 10 years, so too her kin VN Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi.
But Sasikala’s faction in the AIADMK can still claim a majority and elect an alternate leader, possibly Edapadi Palanisamy or Sengottaiyan, and bid for the CM’s post.
Governor Vidyasagar Rao, whose instincts proved absolutely right in waiting for the Supreme Court verdict, is still bound by Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi's advice of holding a composite floor test in which the caretaker Chief Minister O Panneerselvam will be up against a nominee of the Sasikala group.
The Governor may order the test on the floor of the Assembly next week, possibly Monday, to settle the issue of appointing a more permanent CM for Tamil Nadu.
Over 100 MLAs who are being held hostage, with or against their will, in the resort outside Chennai will presumably still be there till the Assembly session. But many may vote for OPS on the floor.
OPS stands to gain the most in the verdict. He should be able to swing the numbers in his favour and with the help of DMK can claim an absolute majority in the House. If 70 AIADMK MLAs come to his side, he can take over the party too from the core Sasikala loyalists, most of whom are her kin and are desperately ambitious to pursue the big political dream.
There will now be stability in the short term, until the next crisis shakes up the AIADMK.
