After floor test tomorrow, TN CM Palanisamy to visit Sasikala in jail

Chennai: New Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy will visit AIADMK general secretary Sasikala Natarajan, lodged in a Bengaluru jail, on Saturday.

Palanisamy will meet Sasikala in Bengaluru following a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Saturday, where the CM has to prove his majority in the face of opposition from the O Panneerselvam camp.

There were reports earlier that Palanisamy may be meeting the AIADMK chief today at 10 am, but he denied them.

Sasikala, meanwhile, watched the swearing-in ceremony of Palanisamy from her jail cell, said reports. The AIADMK chief has been denied any special facilities in jail, including non-vegetarian food twice a day, and a doctor on call.

The Tamil Nadu government for its part may appeal in court to allow Sasikala to be shifted to a jail in Tamil Nadu.

Palanisamy, fiercely loyal to the party chief is seen as her proxy and many expect Ms Sasikala to have control of both the party and the government from jail.

Sasikala appointed her nephew Dinakaran as the party's deputy general secretary, before travelling to Bengaluru to surrender.

However, sacked AIADMK Presidium Chairman E Madusudanan on Friday 'expelled' Sasikala, her nephew Dinakaran and Venkatesh from the party.

The Supreme Court earlier this week convicted Sasikala in a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case, and sentenced her to 4 years in jail. This means that the AIADMK chief can no longer harbour aspirations to be the CM for the next 10 years - which constitutes 4 years of imprisonment and 6 years as per the law disqualifying convicts from holding political office.