AIADMK presidium chairman and top leader E Madhusudanan today jumped ship to back caretaker chief minister O Panneerselvam. With his joining the Panneerselvam camp, more leaders are likely to follow. He appealed to workers to retrieve the party from dictators and rowdies in a reference to general secretary VK Sasikala. Madhusudanan is the second top party leader after Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan to back Panneerselvam. WATCH VIDEO | All Eyes On TN Governor After Sasikala & Panneerselvam Hold Talks At Raj Bhawan The chief minister, who is locked in a bitter feud with Sasikala for control of the party and the government, is hoping to garner enough support from the MLAs ahead of a keenly awaited floor test in the Assembly. A majority of the MLAs are currently housed in a resort in Chennai by the Sasikala camp to prevent desertion. "Our senior leader Madhusudanan was threatened and pressured. Even after that, he stood alone to safeguard party. We welcome him," Panneerselvam told reporters. He added that if Sasikala succeeds in acquiring the chair of the chief minister, it will be a 'big blot on democracy.' Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, scheduled to arrive in Chennai today, will meet Sasikala and a section of the party MLAs supporting her. If Sasikala can convince the Governor of a majority of MLA suppporting her, she will be invited to form the government and prove numerical majority in the Assembly. WATCH VIDEO | 5 Lesser Known Facts About Sasikala Natarajan Panneerselvam, who had resigned as chief minister on Sunday and has been asked to stay on until a new chief minister is sworn in, raised a banner of revolt late Tuesday evening against Sasikala. He alleged that he was forced to resign from the post. Sasikala was incidentally elected the leader of the legislature party on Sunday after Panneerselvam had nominated her. Sasikala in return dubbed Panneerselvam a 'traitor' with an intention to split the party.
