All is not well with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after the death of its supreme leader Jayalalithaa earlier this month, with a section of party leaders demanding that Sasikala Natarajan take over chief minister's post from O. Panneerselvam.
AIADMK presidium chairman E. Madhusudanan and Revenue Minister R.B. Udayakumar requested Sasikala to take over the post of both the chief minister and party's general secretary. Sasikala, a close aide of Jayalalithaa for over two decades, however, continues to play her card close to her chest.
Panneerselvam was sworn in as the chief minister soon after the Apollo hospital, where Jayalalithaa was under treatment, announced her death in the midnight of December 5, a day after she faced a cardiac arrest.
Panneerselvam, considered a Jayalalithaa loyalist, had served as chief minister in two previous occasions when the party chief was unable to hold the office after being convicted in corruption cases.
According to media reports, office bearers of Jayalalithaa Peravai, a wing of the AIADMK, have adopted a resolution appealing to Sasikala to take over as the chief minister and the party chief. Udayakumar is the secretary of the Peravai. The resolution was later handed over to Sasikala at Poes Garden in Chennai.
Udayakumar also requested Sasikala to contest by-election from RK Nagar, which was the home constituency of Jayalalithaa, saying she alone could continue the implementation of the humanitarian schemes initiated by their late leader.
Though most of the leader had demanded that Sasikala take over as party chief, it is the first time that a few senior leaders have urged her to be the chief minister, signalling an impending revolt in the ruling party. Sasikala, however, has not made any public statement after Jayalalithaa's death and keeps everybody guessing.
