AIADMK supremo Sasikala on Tuesday sacked caretaker Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam from the party’s primary membership. The move comes quickly in the wake of Supreme Court’s judgement convicting the AIADMK chief in the disproportionate assets case in which it sentenced her to four in jail.

AIADMK chief V K Sasikala’s hope of becoming chief minister of Tamil Nadu was today dealt a body blow with the Supreme Court upholding her conviction in a corruption case, a verdict that bars her from contesting polls for nearly 10 years. A close aide of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, 60-year-old Sasikala, who is locked in a bitter struggle for power in the ruling AIADMK with Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, was ordered to surrender forthwith and serve the remaining part of her four-year jail term. The AIADMK general secretary has already served almost six months in jail.

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In a keenly awaited verdict in the 19-year-old disproportionate assets case that also involved Jayalalithaa which will have a direct bearing on the political uncertainty that has gripped the state for the last 10 days, the court restored in toto the judgement and the findings of the trial court in Bengaluru which held all the accused including Sasikala’s two relatives, V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi guilty.

The two-judge bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy directed Sasikala and the two relatives to surrender forthwith to the trial court in Bengaluru and serve the remaining part of four-year jail term. The verdict disqualifies Sasikala from becoming a legislator and consequentially she can’t be chief minister either for six years from the date of release of prison under the Representation of the People Act.

Minutes after the Supreme Court verdict, the AIADMK appeared to defend her, saying she had always carried the burden of the late Jayalalithaa. “Whenever there had been burden for Amma (Jayalalithaa) she (Sasikala) had taken it on her. She is doing the same now also. #Chinnamma,” the party’s official Twitter handle, @AIADMKOfficial said.

The trial court had sentenced Sasikala and her two relatives to four years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10
crore each. Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years with a fine of Rs 100 crore.

The verdict came even as Panneerselvam won more support from party MPs and MLAs. Veteran AIADMK legislator Semmalai today extended support to O Panneerselvam, giving a boost to the chief minister’s camp. Semmalai, the MLA from Mettur and a former Minister, arrived at the CM’s Greenways Road residence and extended his support to Panneerselvam, sources in his camp said. With the arrival of Semmalai, the number of MLAs in the Panneerselvam camp rose to nine, including the Chief Minister.

On February 5, AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala was elected as the Legislature Party Leader.However, two days later, Panneerselvam had raised a banner of revolt against her, alleging he was forced to step down for her.