 "sasikala, AIADMK")
Two days after staking a claim with Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao to form the government amidst political turmoil in the state, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary V K Sasikala sought another meeting with Governor on Saturday to parade MLAs supporting her before him.
Sasikala said she believed that the Governor would "act immediately to save the sovereignty of the Constitution, democracy and the interest" of Tamil Nadu.
In a letter to the Governor, Sasikala recalled that she had met him on February 9 along with her senior ministers, consequent to her seeking an appointment with him to hand over the letter of party MLAs electing her as their leader.
She told him she had then submitted an "elaborate presentation to invite me to form the government as I have an absolute majority," besides the original letter and true copy of the resolution electing her as the AIADMK Legislature party leader.
"Thus as it has been seven long days since Chief Minister O Panneerselvam submitted (his resignation) and Your Excellency accepted his resignation, taking the urgency of the situation at hand, I would like to seek an appointment with Your Excellency by today along with all MLAs who extended their support to me regarding further course of action to form the government," she said.
"I believe Your Excellency will act immediately to save the sovereignty of the Constitution, democracy and the interest of the state," she added.
Meanwhile, Sasikala addressed party workers at Poes Garden residence and assured them that the party will come out victorious in its present hour of crisis.
The AIADMK leader said their patience also had a limit.
"Since we believe in justice and democracy, we are little patient. But we can be patient only to a certain extent. After that we have to jointly do what we have to," she said amidst cries of 'Chinnama' by her supporters.
"It is my duty to lead the party and government. The manoeuvring of a few people cannot hurt this mass movement which has 1.5 crore supporters left behind by Amma (Jayalalithaa)," she said.
The party workers were "everything" for her and Jayalalithaa had died with the confidence "I will protect the party and the government," she added.
She said Jayalalithaa had steered the party to great heights amidst a lot of challenges and this had resulted in AIADMK becoming the third largest one in the Parliament.
AIADMK was a "strong fort" which cannot be "shaken" by anybody, Sasikala said and added: "Amma is with us and identifying the detractors. With the support of 1.5 crore supporters, those trying to divide us will fail."
