Chennai: It was all hunky dory for AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala until Monday afternoon. The stage was set for her swearing in as CM of Tamil Nadu. But in an unexpected turn of events, things started getting rough by the evening. The swearing-in was called off reportedly due to the non-availability of the Governor. And this immediately was followed some sensational charges that were hurled at her by former Speaker and AIADMK leader P H Pandian.

To add to the discomfiture of the AIADMK, the DMK, which hitherto was watching the proceedings from the sidelines, seemed to have decided ‘enough is enough’. Working President M K Stalin decided to travel to New Delhi with scheduled appointments from the President and the Union Home Minister.

If things work in his favour, a meeting with the Prime Minister is also on cards. And adding to the flux-filled turn of events, the Officer on Special Duty at the Chief Minister’s Office, Shantha Sheela Nair put in her papers citing ‘personal reasons’. Her resignation comes in the wake of high-profi le exits of Sheela Balakrishnan (advisor to TN government) and Venkatraman and Ramalingam (Secretaries to CM).

However, the much-anticipated swearing-in ceremony this morning at the University Centenary Hall turned a
disappointment for the associates of Sasikala as the acting Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao put up a no-show.

Sources in the know said that the Governor, who airdashed from Coimbatore to New Delhi yesterday, was closetted with the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh over the developments in Tamil Nadu. It is being speculated that the Governor wasn’t keen on going ahead with administering the oath of office to Sasikala as the verdict in the Disproportionate Assets case, in which she is the Accused No.2, is to be out next week.

But by this morning, it emerged that the Governor cannot hold up the swearing-in based on events that are moot. It is now learnt that Vidyasagar Rao is likely to fly to Chennai today or tomorrow. He is currently in Mumbai, where he had flown to from New Delhi last night.

Meanwhile, rumour mills have it that the BJP is firing from the shoulders of the Governor as it is ill-disposed towards the idea of Sasikala as Chief Minister. It is true that the BJP and its top brass had struck a good working relationship with outgoing Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. (It was ironically one of the alleged reasons for OPS being shown the door by the top-echelons at AIADMK). But BJP’s local leaders have officially made it clear that they have no stakes in the developments in the AIADMK and the party will not stand between anyone from the AIADMK becoming the Chief Minister.

‘We have nothing to do with what the Governor may do or may not do,’ party leader Vanathi Srinivasan said. DMK however while outwardly distancing itself from the events saying that the whole thing is a matter between the AIADMK and the Governor, has certainly upped the ante now. Sources in the party confirm that Stalin is indeed in touch with certain key leaders of the BJP.

He was slated to take an evening flight to Delhi where he has meetings slated with Pranab Mukherjee and Rajnath Singh. Stalin is expected to impress upon them the need to stop Sasikala from becoming the Chief Minister of the State.

On the looks of it, Sasikala’s imminent take over as the Chief Minister has brought the DMK and the BJP on the same page. And how this development takes further shape is something to be seen as it will have a long-standing impact on national politics too.

Meanwhile, the AIADMK, while being relatively quiet to the developments, said there was no hitch in Sasikala becoming the Chief Minister. Party spokesperson C Ponnaiyan also pooh-poohed the charges of Pandian and said they were made for ‘political gains’.