Sasikala's escalation as new TN CM sends wrong message for democracy: Congress

The Congress Party on Tuesday termed the escalation of V K Sasikala as the next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu as 'unfortunate', adding that this move would not send the right message for the democracy.

"This is very unfortunate that a person who is not even in the cabinet and not even a primary member of the party so if people like these handle the business of the state is not a right message for the democracy and it will give wrong message to the next generation as well," Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge told ANI here.

Sasikala , who was recently elected as the legislative head of AIADMK, has been facing strong protests from several quarters with the opposition claiming that she was not elected by the people of the state.

Former finance minister P. Chidambaram who, in a series of tweets, heaped scorn on the latest appointment to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's office. "It is the right of AIADMK MLAs to elect their leader," he said, adding: "It is the right of the people to ask if the leader deserves to be CM."

Sasikala is expected to be sworn in as Chief Minister of the state on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court seeking to restrain the swearing-in of Sasikala on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, opposition seems to be in "shock" over the new development in the state, DMK leader TKS Elangovan asserted, "No party can go against wishes of people. MLAs might have chosen Sasikala, whether people will accept her as Chief Minister has to be seen."

Tamil Nadu has on three occasions in the past witnessed persons not elected to the assembly being sworn in as Chief Minister - C.N. Annadurai in 1967, V.N. Janaki (MGR's widow) in 1987 and Jayalalithaa in 2001. Of them Janaki had to quit office within 24 days having lost the confidence of the House. Sasikala's proposed swearing-in will be the third such event since May 2016 when Jayalalithaa retained power.