Despite the Supreme Court upholding a trial court verdict convicting J Jayalalithaa, Sasikala Natarajan, the latter’s nephew VN Sudhakaran and sister-in-law J Elavarasi in the disproportionate assets case on Tuesday, infighting in the ruling AIADMK for the chief ministerial post continues unabated.
The focus has now shifted to Raj Bhavan, with Governor Vidyasagar Rao positioned to have the final say.
The week-long battle for the top post between O Panneerselvam, the caretaker chief minister, and the ruling party’s General Secretary, Sasikala, was expected to end after the Supreme Court verdict.
Despite her conviction on corruption charges, Sasikala is adamant on keeping Panneerselvam away from the chair. The Supreme Court’s verdict upholding a four-year jail term has disqualified her from contesting elections for 10 years. She has vacated her post as legislature party leader and brought in loyalist Edappadi K Palaniswami, who was elected as the leader of the Legislature Party.
Palaniswami met the Governor on Tuesday evening at Raj Bhavan and staked his claim to form the government.
The morning saw crowds gather outside the residences of both Panneerselvam and Sasikala, though she was staying at a beach resort about 60 km south of Chennai where about 90 MLAs supporting her had been put up.
As the crowds outside the Chief Minister’s office cheered wildly, it was clear that while Sasikala is no longer a contender, Panneerselvam himself is no closer to his goal. He had the support of about 10 legislators out of the 135 in the AIADMK stable. The majority were with Sasikala and some remain indecisive.
Accompanied by 11 senior party leaders, including AIADMK Presidium Chairman KA Sengottaiyan, he submitted a letter of support from legislators of his party to prove his majority.
Immediately following the Supreme Court order, Panneerselvam appealed to the Legislators and his Cabinet to come together to continue the AIADMK’s legacy with a stable government.
The AIADMK retained power in the Assembly elections last year under Late J Jayalalithaa, who was the Chief Minister as well as General Secretary of the party.
However, after her death on December 5, 2016, there was a vacuum at the top in the absence of a second-rung leadership. Panneerselvam was sworn in the same night as chief minister but Sasikala became the party’s general secretary on December 29.
She made a bid for the chief minister’s post by getting herself elected as the Leader of the AIADMK Legislature Party on February 5.
Though Panneerselvam submitted his resignation, he changed tack a couple of days later stating he was forced out of office. Sasikala, who had submitted the letters of support to the Governor, immediately corralled all the MLAs at a beach resort 60 km south of Chennai and waited for word from Raj Bhavan. But the Governor remained silent. The Supreme Court’s verdict put an end to her bid for power.
The convictionThe Supreme Court upheld the verdict of a Special Court that convicted Jayalalithaa (the first accused), Sasikala, Sudhakaran and Elavarasi.
They were found guilty of colluding to amass wealth to the tune of ₹66 crore between 1991 and 1996, when Jayalalithaa was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time.
The order followed an appeal by the Karnataka government against their acquittal by the Karnataka High Court.
However, the appeal against Jayalalithaa was abated following her demise last year.
The other three, including Sasikala, face four years’ simple imprisonment and a penalty of ₹10 crore each. If they do not pay the penalty, they face one more year in prison.
They were found guilty of offences under Section 109 and 120 (B) of IPC read with Section 13 (2) of Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. This brings to an end a nearly-two-decade-long trial, which started in 1996 at a sessions court in Chennai. The conviction was handed down by a Special Court in Bangalore in September 2014.
More reports on p8, p10