OPS revolts! Says he was forced to quit, will withdraw resignation if people want

“It's who the people want who should be the CM, OPS or anyone else,” he said.
OPS revolts! Says he was forced to quit, will withdraw resignation if people want
OPS revolts! Says he was forced to quit, will withdraw resignation if people want
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In a dramatic turn of events, the caretaker CM of Tamil Nadu, O Pannerselvam today announced outside Jayalalithaa’s memorial at the Marina beach that he was forced to resign as the CM of Tamil Nadu, and that he will take back his resignation if the people of the state want.

OPS’s revolt against Sasikala has thrown a spanner in the works of the Mannargudi family’s attempt to take over Fort St. George.

Speaking to reporters at length, OPS explained the sequence of events after Jayalalithaa’s death.

He said that when Jayalalithaa was ill, he was told that the post of the party chief and the chief minister’s post have to be safeguarded.

OPS says he was approached by the state Health Minister Vijay Bhaskar after he took over as the CM. “He told me that Chinnamma’s brother Dhivaharan had asked him to speak to me. He said that Dhivaharan was unhappy, and was planning to take Chinnamma back to their hometown. When I asked him why, he said Dhivaharan wanted Chinnamma to be the General Secretary of the party.”

After he was appointed as the CM, he was repeatedly insulted by his own ministers who gave interviews to the media that only the party’s general secretary should be made the CM.

OPS spoke at length about how he never wanted to be the CM following Jayalalithaa's death, and he was forced to take up the post. And even after that, he was insulted. 

"RB Udayakumar spoke to the media and said that only the general secretary of the party should be the CM, while I was the CM. I asked them, how is this fair?" he narrated.

"Later, Minister Sellur Raju lamented to me about Udayakumar's statements, and then he himself went to Madurai and said the same," OPS added.

OPS also brought to attention his 'good work' during Cyclone Vardah, the jallikattu issue and in containing the Chennai oil spill. He said that the hard work he put in got him during Cyclone Vardah a lot of accolades, and that irritated Sasikala and her family. 

When the government was dealing with the Chennai oil spill, he said he was called and told that Sasikala should be made the CM soon.

“They held an MLA meeting without asking me. They forced me to resign,” he said, “They held my hand said please save the party. I wanted to visit Jayalalithaa’s memorial before I gave my resignation, they did not even allow me to do that.”

When reporters asked if he was taking back his resignation, he said that he will take it back if the people want, and that he was ready to fight alone.

"The entire country is shocked by the way the party and state is being run," he said. 

 

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