VK Sasikala hit out at O Panneerselvam on Wednesday, saying no one will be allowed to break up the AIADMK.
Giving a stern warning to ‘forces trying to break up the party’, she said “neither AIADMK nor I will be cowed down by such attempts to break up the party”.
“I was too naive to understand the intentions of Panneerselvam and DMK when they spoke in parliament. This is all the scheming of DMK and it is apparent from Stalin’s joy in all this,” Sasikala said in a press a conference in Chennai.
Caretaker chief minister O Panneerselvam on Wednesday morning ordered a probe into the death of late CM J Jayalaithaa, a move aimed at undermining VK Sasikala who sacked him as party treasurer a few hours earlier for questioning her planned elevation to the state’s top job.
While he told media that people of Tamil Nadu deserved to know the truth about the death of Jayalaithaa, whose hospital stay and treatment remained shrouded in secrecy, CM-designate Sasikala, in a show of strength chaired a meeting of ruling AIADMK MLAs.
The party was united, there were no divisions and Sasikala would be the chief minister, senior AIADMK leader and deputy speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai said.
But, Panneerselvam won’t go down quietly. He said he would take back his resignation and meet governor C Vidyasagar Rao once he was back in Chennai.
Meanwhile, Panneerselvam on Wednesday said he would prove his majority in the assembly session, while adding he would also welcome former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar to join his side.
“I have not and will never betray the party. I will withdraw my resignation,” said Panneerselvam who was flanked by Kavundampalayam MLA VC Aaru kutty and Rajya Sabha MP Maitreyan.
The Centre or BJP has no role in “internal matters” of crisis-ridden AIADMK, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said and asserted that Governor C Vidyasagar Rao will take a decision in line with the Constitution to resolve the issue.
“I don’t want to comment on what is happening internally in AIADMK. And Centre and BJP doesn’t have any role in it.
“Secondly, the allegations against the Governor too are wrong. He will take the right decision at the right time in line with the Constitution and after seeking opinion of legal experts,” he said.
