Chennai: After more than eight days of political turmoil in the state, Edappadi K Palaniswami, along with 30 ministers, was sworn-in on Thursday. But it's not over yet. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister will have to face a trust vote in the Assembly on Saturday.
So, why take back MLAs to the Golden Bay resort after the swearing-in ceremony? The MLAs will stay at the resort till Saturday and then leave for their respective constituencies. It may be noted that not all MLAs staying at the resort attended the swearing-in ceremony. At least three MLAs stayed at the resort and sources said were closer to jumping ship to join Panneerselvam.
The Sasikala camp, however, is confident they would get the numbers required to form the government.
So, the scorecard is this: 11 MLAs in the Panneerselvam camp and 123 MLAs in the Sasikala camp. All Panneerselvam needs is an addition of seven MLAs to ensure that Edappadi Palaniswami does not reach the magic figure of 117, the halfway mark in the Assembly. Whether he gets the support of more MLAs will be clear on Saturday.
O Panneerselvam's camp has kept up its attack on Sasikala, who is currently lodged in a Bengaluru jail. In a press release on the party letter head, former AIADMK Presidium Chairman Madhusudhanan said Sasikala’s nephews TTV Dinakaran and S Venkatesh were ‘removed’ from the. The fact that Sasikala's family is slowly gaining control of the party hasn't gone down well with many AIADMK leaders. But will this dynasty politics change the MLAs’ mind in before Saturday’s trust vote? We’ll know by noon.
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