Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam has claimed that he told the family of former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s aide V.K. Sasikala in December 2016 that he would hold the post of Chief Minister only for three months.
Mr. Panneerselvam told The Hindu in a recent interview that despite conveying his initial disinclination to take up the post after Jayalalithaa’s death, did so after he was persuaded by an emissary of V. Divaharan, the younger brother of Sasikala, to change his decision in the “interests of the party and the government.”
It was at that time that he conveyed to the emissary that he would be there only for three months, by when his successor should be chosen. “I had told him that I would provide my full cooperation,” Mr. Panneerselvam said.
Subsequently, he claimed that the way he handled relief work in the wake of Cyclone Vardah that hit Chennai and surrounding areas in early 2017, secured Krishna water for Chennai by holding talks with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and got the Centre’s approval for an ordinance on Jallikattu had turned the Sasikala family against him.