'Chinamma' Sasikala stakes claim to form govt.

In a major turn of events, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary V.K. Sasikala Natarajan on Thursday staked her claim to form government.

"Chinnamma stakes claim to form Government," AIADMK tweeted

Sasikala earlier today visited former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa's memorial at Chennai's Marina beach.

Prior to that, she met Tamil Nadu Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao.

Sasikala also carried along with her letter of support claiming majority.

She was accompanied by five senior AIADMK leaders.

The Governor also met interim Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam at 5 p.m. today.

Hours before she met the Governor to stake claim to be Tamil Nadu's next chief minister, Sasikala lost the support of top party leader E. Madhusudhanan to O. Panneerselvam, who has underscored that he will not give up the Chief Minister's post without a fight.

Madhusudanan today jumped ship to back caretaker Panneerselvam.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Panneerselvam hit back at Sasikala for calling him a 'traitor' accusing the former of playing 'dirty tricks', adding that she instigated several ministers to give interviews to declare her as the chief minister.