Tami Nadu Law Minister C V Shanmugam, stirred the hornet's nest once again by discussing the former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's 'murder' at a public rally. The Minister, who belongs to the AIADMK (Amma) faction accused O Panneerselvam of murdering 'Amma' in order to retain the Chief Minister's seat.
"When she passed away Pannerselvam was made the Chief Minister and even two months after her death, O Panneerselvam was the Chief Minister," said the Law Minister. "If there in an inquiry Panneerselvam should be the first person to be investigated. We accuse OPS of killing Amma, so that he could become Chief Minister. These suspicions are rising now," he added.
The Law Minister's allegations come at a time when the OPS faction has demanded a judicial inquiry into the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. This has been one of the primary conditions that they have laid for a merger between the two factions.
The faction led by Edappadi Palaniswami however said that a PIL in the matter of Jayalalithaa's death is pending before the Madras High Court. If the HC orders for a CBI probe, then the Government will do it, they claimed. They further questioned the rival faction as to why there was no probe conducted when Pannerselvam was the CM.
Panneerselvam, meanwhile, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. While the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu told the media that he discussed some long-pending demands of the state with the Prime Minister, reports suggest that political developments, including the merger negotiations, were discussed.