Ahead of Sunday’s meeting of AIADMK MLAs where VK Sasikala was elected the legislative party leader, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Friday removed three top officials appointed by his predecessor J Jayalalithaa to the CMO.
One among them was former chief secretary Sheela Balakrishnan, who was appointed as adviser to the Tamil Nadu government by Jayalalithaa in March 2014 after her retirement and was considered a major power centre in the state government besides Sasikala.
Others removed were K N Venkataramanan and A Ramalingam, the Secretary I and IV in CMO, both of them trusted aides of Jayalalithaa.
Three days later, on Monday, Santha Sheela Nair, a retired IAS officer and a trusted advisor of Jayalalithaa, resigned as Officer on Special Duty at the Chief Minister’s Office.
Nair was responsible for overseeing the implementation of special programme implementation of the AIADMK government and was handpicked by Jaya for the task after her retirement.
In another significant development, KN Sathiyamoorthy, the Inspector General of Police in the state intelligence, has also been on leave since Saturday, reportedly after orders from government.
All these officials had been trusted aides of Jayalalithaa during her rule and also during the time she was hospitalised.
According to a report by The News Minute, some of these officials were only removed because they had not transferred their loyalties which they had for Jaya to Sasikala.
In political circles, the move is seen as a purging of sorts before Sasikala takes over as the third woman Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
According to a report by the Times of India, many in Chennai’s top echelons of power, who have been loyalists of Jayalalithaa, fear being targeted by Sasikala. Many top IAS and IPS officers are even getting ready for transfers.
The report said that few senior police officers have also dropped in to show their loyalty at Poes Garden, Chennai's posh area that houses Sasikala’s residence which she has inherited from Jaya.
Although Sasikala’s elevation to the state’s top post is faces a legal hurdle as the Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict within a week on pleas challenging her acquittal along with her mentor Jayalalithaa’s, she has already established herself as the political heir of ‘Amma’.
Last week, Sasikala had appointed senior leaders, including some former Ministers and a former Mayor, to key party posts.
Former Ministers K A Sengottaiyan, S Gokula Indira and B V Ramana, besides ex-Mayor Saidai S Duraisamy were made the AIADMK's Organisation Secretaries.
The appointments also included that of Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar to a key party post.
She had also announced removal of Ambattur MLA V Alexander as AIADMK's MGR Youth Wing Secretary. He will, however, continue as the party's Tiruvallore (East) District Secretary, Sasikala had said in a statement.
Sasikala was appointed as General Secretary by AIADMK's top decision-making body General Council on December 29. She took charge of the post on December 31, pledging to take forward the legacy of Jayalalithaa.
Sasikala, 62, had been a close aide of Jayalalithaa for three decades and was always seen as a power centre in AIADMK.
