Inside story of how Sasikala became CM of Tamil Nadu

"Can't a strong woman rule the state?" roared milk and dairy minister Rajendra Balaji, when questioned why VK Sasikala was chosen as Tamil Nadu CM when O Panneerselvam (OPS) was already doing a good job.

Balaji seemed to be under stress as a video from earlier that day showed him and a few AIADMK members thrashing an AIADMK cadre for tearing Sasikala's poster. He even agreed he had been present at the scene but denied touching the cadre.

Anyway, Tamil Nadu will not forget December 5, the day the state's Amma Jayalalithaa passed away, nor February 5, the day Amma's aide Sasikala was chosen as CM by the AIADMK.

It is definitely no surprise that Sasikala has become CM, since AIADMK cabinet ministers themselves openly stated her name for the post, while they were supposed to work under OPS - an act that has caused a political storm more powerful than Cyclone Vardah.

The two main bureaucratic trees that were uprooted are former chief secretary Rama Mohana Rao and state adviser Sheela Balakrishnan. Rao faced an embarrassing exit while the latter peacefully moved out of the game on February 4, clearing the path for Sasikala's ascension.

On February 5, a critical meeting of AIADMK MLAs - the agenda of which was known to the people but not party MLAs (as they claimed) - was conducted around 1.30 pm.

Everyone waited at the AIADMK headquarters, while CM Panneerselvam continued his routine work and even visited the Ennore seashore to take a look at the oil spill, as though it was just another day for Tamil Nadu.

The pretext for the meeting was that AIADMK MLAs would discuss the upcoming local body elections. Past 2 pm, no major leader had reached the party HQ, making people wonder if there was a meeting at all.

But then word leaked that a special meeting was taking place at Poes Garden, where the ministers had assembled from 11 am. By 2.30 pm, OPS arrived at the HQ, and addressed some ministers who had assembled there.

At 3.05pm, Thambidurai arrived at the HQ, with a broad smile that depicted accomplishment and satisfaction. With him, news broke on JayaTV that Sasikala had been chosen as the party's legislative leader after OPS proposed her name. He graciously stated that he had resigned from the CM's post.

Within minutes, Sasikala left Poes Garden for the AIADMK HQ - hardly a 10-minute distance - while Thambidurai, upholding AIADMK's military discipline, assembled the leaders at the entrance of the HQ to greet their "Chinnamma".

With scripted precision, Sasikala entered the HQ, went up the balcony and waved to the people assembled below, raising her right hand to show the "twin leaves" symbol. People greeted her but it never matched the one for Jayalalithaa.

Surprisingly, resentment seemed to be the common expression at the AIADMK HQ and across Tamil Nadu. "This is betrayal sir. I have been in the force for 14 years and served CM Amma for 12. This is not fair. They have shown their true colours," grunted a security officer.

The news of Sasikala's ascension struck alarm bells for Jayalalithaa loyalists but nothing could be done as their chosen leader is no more.

The first one to comment from the political arena was MK Stalin, who said that people had voted for Jayalalithaa and that didn't mean that anyone from her household could become CM. It was the common view.

As political parties were preparing their reactions to the news, the people of Tamil Nadu didn't have much patience and took to social media to rip apart the AIADMK and Sasikala.

One message claimed: "CM's post of Tamil Nadu is like the ladies' seat inside a bus and that's why OPS had to get up and give way (to) a woman."

Yet another one said: "Students of Tamil Nadu are utterly confused as they had a different name for the CM during the quarterly exams, another for half-yearly and it got changed for the final exams - wondering whose name they should write for the question 'who's the chief minister of the state?'."

It is undeniable that people knew Sasikala would become CM, but according to social media, many hoped it would not happen, or at least not so soon.

Yet, one person who could be certainly said to be not surprised was OPS. Even as he exited the AIADMK HQ after announcing his resignation, he carried a peaceful smile - which may be read as him saying that his work was over for now.

As things were closing down at the HQ, a senior police officer, wiping his sweaty face, said: "Compared to Sasikala, her husband Natarajan is much better as he is a good organiser. Now even we are clueless as to what will happen."

Before one could wonder if he was predicting another change in the politics of Tamil Nadu, news broke that Natarajan had arrived in Chennai but was admitted at Apollo Hospitals after complaining of fatigue. He is being treated for dehydration now.

Also read: Why Sasikala can't replace Jayalalithaa and rule AIADMK