.png?rect=0%2C0%2C1920%2C1080&auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
Thursday was a busy day for Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao. Within minutes of reaching Chennai, he had to prepare for a high-profile meeting, the first of the two scheduled for the day.
O Panneerselvam, the caretaker Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, was coming over to tell him what he had revealed to live cameras on Tuesday night – that he was forced to resign from his position, and that he should be allowed to continue as the CM.
When OPS - accompanied by former MP Maitreyan, AIADMK founding member PH Pandian, Presidium Chairman Madhusudhanan, and the MLAs supporting him – met Rao, he put forward three important points. According to sources, the first on OPS’ list was the issue of Sasikala’s list of 130 MLA signatures.
OPS alleged that MLAs were forced to sign under duress and that some of the signatures were fake, rendering the document useless.
OPS quoted Section 190(3)b of the Constitution, which refers to resignations of a member of Parliament of Assembly. The clause says that the “Chairman or Speaker of the House” will not accept a resignation if there is doubt that the resignation was not voluntary. (Whether this clause is applicable to the Governor is not clear).
OPS told the Governor that since these signatures were fake, he should not consider Sasikala’s claim of majority, and that a floor test was the only way forward to prove who had majority.
Panneerselvam also told the Governor that Sasikala should not be allowed to parade MLAs, sources said.
The second thing OPS told the Governor was that he was forced to sign the resignation letter, and since the signature was made under duress, he should be allowed to withdraw the resignation.
MLA Shanmuganathan – the man who literally ran to OPS from the Sasikala camp – also spoke to Rao.
Shanmuganathan told the Governor that he was forced to sign a blank paper, and was being taken to Edapadi Palanisamy’s house without his consent.
While Governor Vidyasagar Rao told them that he will get legal opinion before getting back to them, sources told TNM that on one point, he accepted OPS’s request to refrain from parading the MLAs.
Vidyasagar Rao’s meeting with OPS lasted around 15 minutes, but soon, he was getting ready for the other big meeting: Sasikala and her team had an appointment at 7.30pm.
While OPS had brought along MLAs and leaders who were supporting him, Sasikala came with several senior ministers and her nephew, TTV Dinakaran. Dinakaran is not an MLA but a former Rajya Sabha MP, and the fact that he accompanied Sasikala – and was sitting next to her in the meeting with the Governor – did not go down too well with the people of Tamil Nadu.
Sasikala’s meeting with the Governor lasted 30 to 40 minutes. She told the Governor that she had the numbers and staked claim of the Chief Ministership of Tamil Nadu.
As she gave the letter of support with 130 MLA signatures to the Governor, Sasikala apparently claimed that none of the signatures have been forged.
Addressing OPS’ claim, Sasikala told the Governor that the Speaker of the TN Assembly would authenticate the signatures. Reportedly, after the meeting with all the Ministers, Sasikala also spoke to the Governor alone for a few minutes.
The Governor though, seems to have stuck to the same reply that he gave OPS. Vidyasagar Rao told Sasikala that he will have to get legal opinion from Constitutional experts, since he cannot dismiss OPS’s claims altogether. “I have to listen to both sides,” the Governor said, according to sources.
The jury is out on which side’s arguments will find more favour with the Tamil Nadu Governor.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)