CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister O
Panneerselvam got a shot in the arm when school education minister '
Ma Foi' Pandiarajan
, Namakkal MP PR Sundaram and Krishnagiri MP Ashok Kumar joined his camp. Pandiarajan is the first cabinet minister to join the OPS camp.
Pandiarajan, Sundaram and Ashok Kumar met the chief minister at his residence and extended support to him.
The leaders told reporters that several MLAs, who are
staying at a resort near Mahabalipuram , want to leave the party general secretary V K
Sasikala camp and join the Panneerselvam side.
Early in the morning, Pandiarajan tweeted seeking the opinion of his Avadi constituency members following which he was flooded with requests to join OPS.
AIADMK interim general secretary V K Sasikala has sought an appointment with governor
C Vidyasagar Rao
on Saturday, along with all MLAs who extended their support to her, regarding future course of action to form the government.
Sasikala said it had been seven long days since
Panneerselvam submitted his resignation and Rao accepted it. "Taking the urgency of the situation at hand, I would like to seek an appointment with you by today along with all MLAs who extended their support to me," she said in a letter.
"I believe you will act immediately to save the sovereignty of the constitution, democracy and the interest of the state," she said.
The
close-aide of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa recalled her previous letters on February 5 and 7, seeking the Governor's appointment to hand over personally the letter regarding the legislature party electing her as their leader, along with a resolution passed in the party legislator's meeting held on February 5.
"You were pleased to meet myself along with senior ministers at about 7.30pm on February 9 and I submitted my elaborate presentation to invite me to form the government as I have absolute majority," she said, adding, "Original letter and true copy of the resolution were also handed over to governor."