The Supreme Court on 14th Feb 2017 dealt a body blow to Jayalalitha associate V K Sasikala's vaulting ambition to be chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
The SC ordered that she be sent back to jail immediately to serve out the remaining three years, 10 months and 27 days of a four-year sentence for corruption, handed down to her by a trial court in September 2014.
In a unanimous judgment on a 21-year-old case of disproportionate assets, which also bars her from holding public office for 10 years, a two-judge SC bench "unhesitatingly" set aside the Karnataka HC's judgment .
This judgement was "erroneously" acquitting Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and two others in May 2015 and SC upheld the conviction of the trial court, which it found to be "flawless".
The split is now in the 134 MLA-strong ruling AIADMK between supporters of acting CM O Panneerselvam and Sasikala, who like Jaya before her, appears intent on ruling the state from behind bars.
Party elected Sasikala loyalist and strongman of Salem Edappadi K Palaniswami as the leader of the legislature party. Soon after- wards,
He visited governor C Vidyasagar Rao along with other senior leaders to stake claim to form government.
OPS contested the rival's bid.
Having won 89 seats in the May 2016 assembly election and with eight Congress representatives and two allies adding strength, DMK's neutral position in the 234-member assembly has only deepened the crisis in the AIADMK.
