OPS or EPS? All eyes on Tamil Nadu

Tamilnadu Feb 18 : It can't be forgotten, as to how Sasikala stated that she knew OPS would become a traitor as she saw him share a smile with the Opposition leader MK Stalin in the Assembly.

What was more ridiculous than her above explanation was the idea of taking the MLAs away from the public's view and hold them 'wilfully' in a resort which is surrounded by brackish water on 3 sides, kind of making it look like a fortress. It is also true that 100s non-party workers were brought in to guard the 124 MLAs.

But OPS's AIADMK, got a boost when Madhusudhanan the party's Presidium Chairman decided to support the camp. It took 24 hours for Sasikala to remove him from the party. 12 MPs starting with Maithreyan joined OPS camp. And the crucial count of MLAs also began to rise, but very slowly reaching up to the mark of 12 again. Two MLAs, SP Shanmuganathan and AA Saravanan even complained of escaping from Sasikala camp and had filed a case of being kidnapped.

After many days of considering the situation, Governor Vidhyasagar Rao called in E Palanisamy to form the government a day after Sasikala was convicted and sent to prison. Thereby the fight swtiched between OPS and EPS while VKS was in Bengaluru's Parapanna Agrahara jail.

But the day before Sasikala left for prison, she reinstated her nephew TTV Dhinakaran and Dr Venkatesh back into the party forgiving them for their 'actions'. TTV Dhinakaran was expelled along with other family members of Sasikala in 2011 by Jayalalithaa. What was more surprising is that she made him deputy general secretary of the party, the same day inadvertently giving him the control before leaving for prison.

OPS took this point to the people and claimed that his fight for Dharma will continue and that he will also fight against a 'family' ruling the state. But, to many who knew how AIADMK's anatomy, TTV Dhinakaran becoming a Deputy was not a surprise as he has always been there in the role of an advisor.

In any case, with the floor test being called today, it is expected that OPS would need a miracle for a straight win if Speaker Dhanapal didn't allow a secret vote.

To add more masala to the event, DMK has decided to vote against EPS and Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to go along with DMK, as instructed by Rahul Gandhi.

Considering the people's sentiment, Mylapore MLA Natraj has also decided to vote against EPS.

But the chances of parties trying to dissolve the Assembly can't be ruled out either. Even a party leader stated, "Expect a lot of 'action' in the Assembly. It is not OPS, but Speaker Dhanapal is the man who should worry about what's going to happen in the Assembly," he winked