Tamil Nadu crisis: O Panneerselvam to visit Secretariat as Sasikala tries to keep flock together

A day after demanding that 129 MLAs, staying in a private resort, should be released, Tamil Nadu's caretaker Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam will visit state secretariat on Monday afternoon.

Panneerselvam has said that the MLAs should be released and they should meet people in their respective constituencies to get a sense of the public mood.

Meanwhile, struggling to keep her flock of MLAs together after desertion by 10 MPs to rival O Panneerselvam camp, AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala has trashed allegation they have been held "hostage" at a resort.

Sasikala, who is locked in a fierce battle of attrition with Panneerselvam, said the MLAs were staying at the resort near here of their own accord and that they were "free".

Panneerselvam, however, claimed the MLAs were held there against their will and "tortured" and sought their "release".

Sasikala, who had earlier in the day observed that it was "very difficult" to be a woman in politics, said there were efforts to "intimidate" her as she was a woman, but asserted she would not be cowed down.

The AIADMK supremo turned misty-eyed while referring to her mentor and former Chief Minister the late J Jayalalithaa and vowed to protect the party nurtured by her long-time friend, saying "I will give my life for this cause".

Panneerselvam hit out at Sasikala, saying she was shedding "crocodile tears" and demanded that they be "released".

Calling himself a "staunch loyalist" of Jayalalithaa, he said "In the last 20 years not Amma (Jayalalithaa) criticised me not even once."