'Let's Unite' Says O Panneerselvam, Sends Team To Resort To Win Over AIADMK Legislators

Chennai: As party chief VK Sasikla expelled him, Tamil Nadu's interim Chief Minister O Panneerselvam urged legislators of the ruling AIADMK to "sink differences, work together and keep the party united to continue Amma's good rule." He has sent a team of party leaders to the five-star resort near Chennai where Ms Sasikala has just had her loyalist and the state's PWD minister Edappadi Palanisami elected to head the AIADMK in the assembly. Their convoy has been stopped by the police just short of the resort.

Mr Panneerselvam will head to work at the Secretariat in Chennai which houses the Chief Minister's office. He rejoined work after a week yesterday and cleared over 300 files over about eight hours.    

Ms Sasikala was convicted today by the Supreme Court in a corruption case and has been ordered to surrender immediately to serve a four year jail term. That canceled her bid to be Tamil Nadu's next chief minister. Mr Palanisami has said he will now meet the governor to stake claim to form government.

Team Panneerselvam, including the state's education minister K Pandiarajan, will now attempt to make the party's legislators abandon that plan and avoid a split in the AIADMK. In a letter, Mr Panneerselvam has urged the "MLAs to make the right choice" and said they must "forget temporary problems and unite."

Mr Pannerselvam said Amma or Ms Jayalalithaa's policies have continued seamlessly through the weeks that he has been Chief Minister and appealed to them to ensure a stable AIADMK government. He had taken oath hours after Ms Jayalalithaa died on December 5 last year and resigned last week at a party meeting called to elect Ms Sasikala to be the next chief minister. Two two days later rebelled saying he must remain in the top post because "Amma" wanted him to.

In the days since, as the two feuding leaders waged a bitter war of words, only 11 legislators have crossed over from Camp Sasikala to Team Panneerselvam. Most were at the meeting where Mr Panneerselvam was expelled today and Mr Palanisami was elected. If he stakes claim, the state's Governor will have to invite him to form government and win a trust vote in the assembly.

Outside OPS' home, there have been victory celebrations since morning with ecstatic supporters singing, dancing and celebrating the court's verdict against Ms Sasikla. There are party workers and also citizens who dropped by, they said, to express "relief" that Ms Sasikala would not be the state's next chief minister. Public opinion has distinctly tilted towards Mr Panneerselvam, who was twice picked by Ms jayalalithaa to fill in for her when she had to step down as chief minister over corruption charges.

He has been appreciated for tackling several crises since Ms Jayalalithaa's death efficiently. In contrast, Ms Sasikala's only claim to authority was her proximity to Ms Jayalalithaa, whose closest companion she was for three years. Ms Sasikala has never contested an election and after the conviction today, cannot do so for the next 10 years.