TN power tussle: Panneerselvam camp confident of boosting numbers to 135

Chennai: In the wake of the escalating political crisis in Tamil Nadu, the state's Education Minister K. Pandiarajan, who is supporting acting Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam in the power tussle with AIADMK General Secretary Sasikala, said that Panneerselvam is the only person who truly deserves to be Jayalalithaa's successor in leading the state.

"I would like to look at the past, which is 60 days of great governance by AIADMK led by O. Panneerselvam. Everyone realizes that the only person under whom it can happen for AIADMK is O. Panneerselvam," the minister said.

Read: ‘Our patience has a limit’: Sasikala meets AIADMK MLAs to strategise

"The drama is coming to an end very soon and you will see certain parts of the drama getting played out over the next three-four days," Pandiarajan added.

He further said the key event will be the judgment which would happen within the next two-three days, adding that it is the Governor's responsibility to decide before he acts on the request of the two parties over respective candidates.

"In my view our number will be much more than what it is today which will land at 135 very soon," he added on a confident note.

Earlier on Saturday, V. K. Sasikala met her MLAs at the Golden Bay resort in Kuvathur where they have been corralled into, in order to prevent any horse trading ahead of a probable floor test to prove majority.

AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP V. Maitreyan on Saturday urged President Pranab Mukherjee and the Central Government to take "severe action" against Sasikala, for her "threatening" statement against the state governor.

Earlier in the day, in a letter to Tamil Nadu governor C. Vidyasagar Rao, Sasikala recalled that she had met him on February 9 along with her senior ministers, consequent to her seeking an appointment with him to hand over the letter of party MLAs electing her as their leader.

Sasikala said she was initially reluctant to take the responsibility of the Chief Minister as she was struck with grief following former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa's death.

Sasikala's comments came after Panneerselvam alleged that he was told to quit the Chief Minister's post to protect party's discipline and failure to follow would be a violation of party discipline.

Calling Sasikala as the "temporary general secretary", Panneerselvam said, "The Council can only appoint a temporary general secretary. Proper elections have to be held to elect a general secretary according to the party bye-laws. People are on my side."

The acting Chief Minister also said he has the support of the AIADMK leaders and would prove his majority in the assembly.