All eyes on Raj Bhavan now after Sasikala moves to jail

The Governor had kept his decision pending as the verdict in the disproportionate assets case against AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala, was due to be announced by the Supreme Court.

Chennai, Feb 15: All eyes are now on Governor C Vidyasagar Rao over the swearing-in of the new Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, a day after Edapaddi K Palaniswami staked claim to form the government.

However, there has been no official word so far from Rao,who was on Moday advised by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to convene a special session of the Legislative Assembly within a week for holding a composite floor test.

The Governor had kept his decision pending as the verdict in the disproportionate assets case against AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala, a claimant for chief ministership, was due to be announced by the Supreme Court, which delivered it yesterday, restoring her conviction and sentence, which shattered her hopes of occupying the top seat.

While caretaker Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has managed to win over the support of over 10 MPs and some MLAs, Sasikala has been able to keep the flock of around 120 of AIADMK's 124 legislators with her. Though Panneerselvam does not have the explicit support of a very large number of MLAs, he has been insisting he would prove majority on the floor of the House if asked to do so.

It remains to be seen whether the Governor goes by the AG's advice for a floor test by the two competing claimants for chief ministership or invites Palaniswami to form the government.

Before Sasikala began serving the remnant three years, 10 months and 27 days sentence in a Karnataka prison this evening, she reinducted her close relatives T T V Dinkaran and S Venkatesh into the party, five years after their expulsion by AIADMK supremo and the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

Sasikala appointed Dinakaran, her nephew and former Rajya Sabha member, the deputy general secretary of AIADMK, a move seen by many as an attempt to hand over the party's control to him till her return from jail.

Dinakaran's appointment prompted V Karuppasamy Pandian, a senior AIADMK leader to resign as the party's organisation secretary. An angry Pandian went to the extent of questioning Sasikala's authority of reinducting people expelled by Jayalalithaa, and asking if AIADMK was her "family property". While re-admitting Dinakaran and Venkatesh into the party, Sasikala said the two had tendered apology for their actions.

PTI