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Supreme Court verdict changes nothing, Sasikala still beats Panneerselvam

  • The SC verdict was supposed to have ended Sasikala's role in TN politics.
  • But as rapid developments proved, this is hardly the case currently. 
  • It is clear that Sasikala will not continue the fight, via proxies. 
Court verdict changes nothing Sasikala still beats OPS

For a brief period, after the Supreme Court declared VK Sasikala guilty, a wave of relief swept through Tamil Nadu. The bitter battle between Sasikala and O Panneerselvam seemed to at last reach some sort of climax. Many assumed that the road was open for Panneerselvam to set up his own government. 


But in a few short hours the status quo has nearly returned. For one thing, despite Panneerselvan’s emotional appeals, over 90 MLAs have remained firmly on Sasikala’s camp and some 20 others are at least unsure about where to go. 


And the pressure is showing in Panneerselvan’s camp. While OPS is putting up a brave stand and has gone ‘to work’ in the secretariat, he and the members in his camp have repeatedly appealed to the MLAs in the Golden Bay Resort to come out and join OPS. But none have budged. Meanwhile, Sasikala’s camp seemed far more organised. It would seem that despite the denials in public, Sasikala had already a plan in place in case she was convicted. Barely an hour after she was convicted Edappadi Palanisamy was elevated as the new chief of the AIADMK party. 

 

With news coming in that the AIADMK will definitely appeal against the verdict, it is obvious that Chinnamma’s is going nowhere. Panneerselvam somehow managed to survive round one. But will he make it in round two? 
 

An unfazed O Panneerselvam camp today rejected the appointment of Sasikala loyalist Edappady K Palaniswami as AIADMK Legislature Party leader. "Nobody has the authority to elect anybody," was the terse response from School Education Minister K Pandiarajan, a supporter of Panneerselvam.


Palaniswami, a known Sasikala loyalist and a five-time MLA, is the party's strongman from Salem district and currently holds the portfolios of Highways, Public Works and Minor Ports. He was a Minister in the previous Jayalalithaa-led cabinet also and continued with the same portfolios. He was retained in 2016, both by Jayalalithaa and later by her successor Panneerselvam, who has since raised a banner of revolt against Sasikala for allegedly forcing him to step down from chief ministership. 

 

The first act that Palanisamy did was to expel O Panneerselvam from the party. Secondly, he collected signatures of all the MLAs who supported him, and through him Sasikala, and has proceeded to the Governor’s house to submit his own bid to be chief minister of Tamil Nadu. In such cases, technically ultimately wins the day, and however big the ‘sympathy wave’ for OPS, he once again finds himself in square one - he simply lacks the numbers to prove a majority in a floor test. 


The Governor has also run out of options. After dilly-dallying for days, allegedly over the SC verdict, he know has no legitimate reason to delay any further the formation of a government in Tamil Nadu. And he must call for a floor test in the Assembly, and he must swear in whomsoever wins that floor test - Palanisamy or Panneerselvam. For now, there seems to be little hope that OPS will emerge the winner. 

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