Chennai sources have stated that AIADMK interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala on Sunday had denied that party MLAs were being held captive at a resort on the East Coast Road to prevent them from joining the faction of Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam. Meanwhile when presenting the MLAs, allegedly confined at the Golden Bay Resorts in Koovathur since Tuesday night, before the media, Ms. Sasikala had declared that they were all by her side of their free will.
When asked how long the MLAs would remain at the resort, Ms Sasikala angrily asked the reporter, “Which paper are you from?” and went on to say, “So you have some information (about government formation) in advance?” Earlier on Sunday, five Lok Sabha members and one Rajya Sabha member have joined Mr. Panneerselvam’s faction, taking the number of MPs to 10. The Lok Sabha MPs who switched camps were B. Senguttuvan (Vellore), J. Jayasingh Thiyagaraj Natterjee (Thoothukudi), R.P. Marutharajaa (Perambalur), S. Rajendran (Villupuram) and Parthiban (Theni).
The sole Rajya Sabha MP R. Lakshmanan was sacked as AIADMK
Villupuram North District secretary even before he arrived in Chennai to meet
Mr Panneerselvam. Ms. Sasikala appointed Law Minister C.Ve.Shanmugam in his
place.
