TIRUNELVELI: As the eyes of political circles are glued to the Madras High Court, which is expected to announce its verdict on the disqualification of 18 ADMK MLAs case anytime, Thanga Thamizh Selvan, who is one of the 11 MLAs staying at a private resort in Courtallam here, said on Tuesday that TTV Dhinakaran will elevate one of the disqualified MLAs as the chief minister replacing Edappadi K Palaniswami if the verdict is in favour of their faction.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Thamizh Selvan said, “If the verdict is in favour of us, we will go to ‘Kottai’ (Assembly). If not, we will discuss and decide about next course of action. Our main demand is to dethrone Palaniswami from the post of CM. We want Jayalalithaa’s rule to continue. Though we don’t want to topple the government, lakhs of Dhinakaran’s supporters demanded to overthrow it.”
Reiterating Dhinakaran’s statement that the RK Nagar MLA would not try to attain power by taking a shortcut unless he get elected as legislature party leader by MLAs, Thamizh Selvan said that Dhinakaran would make one of the 18 disqualified MLAs as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu replacing Edappadi K Palaniswami. “I cannot name the person who may be elevated as chief minister. Anyone of them (us) would reach the top post,” he added.
Rebuffing the claim of Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam that even tsunami cannot create a split between him and Palaniswami, Thamizh Selvan questioned why the former met with Dhinakaran last year. “Since he (OPS) did not believe EPS, he met Dhinakaran,” Thamizh Selvan said.
Refuting allegations that Dhinakaran was behind the release of the viral audio clips in which State Fisheries Minister D Jeyakumar was allegedly heard conversing with a woman discussing the conduct of an abortion on her daughter, Thamizh Selvan questioned why Chief Minister hesitates to order an inquiry if the clips are fake.