NEW DELHI: O Panneerselvam, in internet speak, is lit. His mission to exile the qualifier of “Acting” from his rank as Chief Minister was bumped today with rival E Palaniswami being chosen to take over from him, but Mr Panneerselvam -“OPS” – belligerently declared, “Our battle will continue.” Belligerence, till recently, was not stock-in-trade for the 67-year-old. His USP, within his party, was his heart-on-his-sleeve devotion to its matriarch, J Jayalalithaa. He was well compensated for it: twice, she was forced to take an interval as Chief Minister because of corruption charges; on each occasion, she chose OPS to fill in for her; in compliance, he refused to use her office or her chair, and placed her photograph at the head of the table for all cabinet meetings.
He maintains that it is that same loyalty to “Amma” (mother), that is the driving force of the actions that have resulted in splitting the AIADMK.
The vast majority of its legislators, 134 in all, are not with OPS. They are in a resort on the outskirts of Chennai, where they were bused a week ago to ensure they remained off-limits to OPS. Access to the resort remains tough – representatives of OPS who tried to drive there two days ago were forced to turn around by the police. In written statements, the legislators have said that their bunkering is voluntary, and that their unequivocal choice for Chief Minister is Mr Palaniswamy.
In fact, who they have chosen is VK Sasikala, who was in the running against OPS for Chief Minister, but ended instead in jail yesterday with the Supreme Court finding her guilty of corruption in a case dating back to the 90s. Before she drove to prison, Ms Sasikala chose Mr Palaniswami as her proxy. “The public is anguished that power is now with those responsible for Jayalalithaa’s death,” OPS said today, referring to the many online campaigns that accuse the AIADMK of violating the A-Z of democratic principles in blindly following Ms Sasikala’s lead. Others in his small team said, “Proxies have the numbers, we have the people.”
A former video cassette seller who lived with Ms Jayalalithaa for more than two decades, Ms Sasikala was treated as next-of-kin by the politician. That status made Ms Sasikala “Chinamma” or younger sister of Amma. And when Ms Jayalalithaa died after a long stay in hospital at the end of last year, the AIADMK smoothly, naturally, swiftly gravitated towards her aide. Analysts spoke of how efficiently Ms Sasikala, by taking control, had pre-empted a vacuum of leadership that would have been especially dangerous for a party habituated over decades to following the will of one leader. Within hours of Ms Jayalalithaa’s death, Ms Sasikala orchestrated the oath-taking of OPS, and soon enough, became General Secretary, which made her the party boss.
When it appeared that all her ducks were in a row, she decided to become Chief Minister herself. The party met on February 5, made it clear that it was not endorsing but proposing Ms Sasikala’s promotion, OPS resigned and was asked by the Governor to serve as caretaker Chief Minister. Then two nights later, in a made-for-television moment, he walked away from Ms Jayalalithaa’s grave on Marina Beach with a big reveal: he had been forced to resign, and subsequently been instructed by “Amma’s spirit to prevent the party from falling into the hands of those who did not have its best interests at heart.”
Buoyed partly by public opinion which praised his handling, as head of state, of the aftermath of a cyclone and a week-long sit-in by students at the same beach where his mentor is buried, OPS was able to attract some supporters from within the AIADMK. 12 parliamentarians and about 10 state legislators have chosen him, though the roster has plateaued in recent days as it became clear that OPS was mightily outnumbered by his rival.
One of his team members, V Maitreyan, a founder of the AIADMK, met with the Election Commission in Delhi this afternoon to state that Ms Sasikala’s appointment as General Secretary or party chief violated basic guidelines for voting. Ms Sasikala, now sharing a cell with two other women in Bengaluru, appointed her nephew as her deputy yesterday.
Mr Palaniswami will be sworn in as Chief Minister this evening, filling in for Ms Sasikala. He has a maximum of two weeks to win a trust vote; the AIADMK says he’s ready to do so without delay. For OPS, the options are to either maintain his newly-minted status as a renegade while chiseling away at his rival’s team -a prospect heavily dependent on patience and the tacit support of other parties, or to return to his political alma mater, if it offers him a face-saving passage.
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