Former AIADMK interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala has said she did not favour any move to disqualify O. Panneerselvam and 10 other rebel legislators from the Assembly in February 2017.
In a telephone conversation on Tuesday with former Periyakulam MLA K. Kathirkamu (a clip of which was released by Ms. Sasikala’s office on Wednesday), she contended that when she was about to leave for Bengaluru to serve a four-year-sentence in a corruption case, she came to know of a plan to have Mr. Panneerselvam and the others disqualified. But she got her response conveyed to then Speaker P. Dhanapal, asking him not to take any such action as she would be able to come out of jail “in a few months” and set the situation right. Two weeks ago, she said Mr. Panneerselvam resigned “voluntarily” as the Chief Minister in February 2017. But he had gone on record, saying he was “compelled” to quit.
On Tuesday, she told Dr. Kathirkamu, one of the 18 MLAs who were disqualified in September 2017 for their allegiance to her nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran, that she did not take Mr. Panneerselvam’s remarks against her “seriously” because she was particular that no party member should be left out. As far as she was concerned, “all are like [part of] one [family].”
(Before going to Bengaluru in February 2017, Ms. Sasikala, then interim general secretary, expelled Mr. Panneerselvam from the party).
She recalled how Jayalalithaa had felt about accommodating some of her bitter critics during the 1989 merger of the factions led by her and Janaki Ramachandran. Ms. Sasikala added that she would shortly begin a State-wide tour and interact with all workers.
