In a dramatic turn of events, caretaker CM of Tamil Nadu, O Pannerselvam today announced outside Jayalalithaa’s memorial at the Marina beach that he was forced to resign as the CM of Tamil Nadu, and that he will take back his resignation if the people of the state want.
OPS’s revolt against Sasikala had thrown a spanner in the works of the Mannargudi family’s attempt to take over Fort St. George.
Speaking to reporters at length, OPS explained the sequence of events after Jayalalithaa’s death.
He said that when Jayalalithaa was of ill health, he was told that the post of the party chief and the chief minister’s post have to be safeguarded. He was told by Health Minister Vijayabhaskar that Dhivaharan, Sasikala’s brother, said that Sasikala should be made the General Secretary. He conferred with his minister and agreed to ask her, and she accepted the offer.
Later, after he was appointed as the CM, he was repeatedly insulted by his own ministers who gave interviews to the media that only the party’s general secretary should be made the CM.
When the government was dealing with the Chennai oil spill, he said he was called and told that Sasikala should be made the CM soon.
“They held an MLA meeting without asking me. They forced me to resign,” he said.
When reporters asked if he was taking back his resignation, he said that he will take it back if the people want, and that he was ready to fight alone.
Source: The News Minute