Hours, before AIADMK chief VK Sasikala meets the Governor to talk about her being Tamil Nadu's next chief minister, she lost the support of top party leader E Madhusudhanan. He gave his support to Panneerselvam, who said that he will not give up the Chief Minister's post without a fight.

The more shocking is Panneerselvam will first meet the Governor and later Ms Sasikala will meet. Though Ms Sasikala has full support within their party, Mr Panneerselvam says many legislators who are personally in touch with him and will help him if he is entitled to take a trust vote. To assure that no MLA changes their mind and move by Mr Panneerselvam, Ms Sasikala has hidden more than 130 party's legislators in hotels and resorts in and around Chennai.

Panneerselvam will meet Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at 5 pm today, and later Ms Sasikala will meet him at 7 pm.  The governor has asked both Mr Panneerselvam and VK Sasikala to be followed by not more than 10 people each.

Mr Panneerselvam said "the isolation of the AIADMK's legislators by Ms Sasikala amounts to them being held hostage. If she is so sure of their support,  why is she not allowing them to talk to me?"

Mr Madhusudhanan, who is the AIADMK's number 2 as its Presidium Chairman,  arrived at Mr Panneerselvam's residence and the two leaders. They alleged that Ms Sasikala has "threatened" Mr Madhusudhanan.

The Supreme Court has said that "will rule next week on whether Ms Sasikala and Ms Jayalalithaa are guilty of corruption in a case dating to the early 90s. The Governor has reportedly sought legal advice on whether Ms Sasikala should be asked to wait to take office till the verdict is delivered."

Top AIADMK MLA Leaves Sasikala, Opts for Panneerselvam

BY M. DIVYA SRI