The Supreme Court convicted AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala in a 21-year-old disproportionate assets case, returned to Veda Nilayam at Poes garden last night and she is expected to surrender before the Bengaluru court by today to undergo the prison sentence. After a long huddle with her party legislators at Kuvathur, Ms Sasikala said last night that she cannot be separated from the AIADMK wherever she is.

In yet another major development in Tamil Nadu’s politics, the late AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa’s niece J Deepa has joined the O Panneerselvam camp. Mr Panneerselvam and Ms Deepa paid homage to the late leader at her burial site in Marina Beach last night. Ms Deepa then announced her official entry into politics by joining the Panneerselvam camp of the party.

Afterwards she visited the chief minister’s official residence and said, she and Mr Panneerselvam share the same views and function like two arms to carry forward the ideals of late Jayalalithaa.

Earlier, both warring factions of the AIADMK met Governor Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan in Chennai last evening after Supreme Court convicted V K Sasikala in the disproportionate assets case. The AIADMK MLAs had an emergency meeting and elected Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswamy as their new Legislature Party leader, in presence of VK Sasikala. Palanyswamy called on the Governor and staked his claim to form the new government.

Meanwhile, two emissaries of the Panneerselvam camp also met the Governor and stressed their case to allow his government to continue. Panneerselvam made an appeal to all the MLAs and cadres of the party to forget what he called a temporary phase of problems and pain and unitedly carry forward the ‘good rule of late Jayalalithaa.’