‘OPS had resigned voluntarily’

Sasikala says she would have retained him as Chief Minister

Former interim general secretary of the AIADMK, V.K. Sasikala, on Tuesday said the party coordinator, O. Panneerselvam, had resigned “voluntarily” as Chief Minister in February 2017. “Had he not done that, I would have retained him [as CM],” she said, in response to observations of her supporter, Sivanesan of Theni, who was heard telling her that “If Ayya [Mr. Panneerselvam] had not quit then, he would even have prevented you from undertaking vanavasam [her going to a Bengaluru jail to serve a four-year-long sentence].” An audio clip of the tele conversation between Ms. Sasikala and Mr. Sivanesan was released by her office. It was one of nine audio clips that were made available to the media during the day.