a "OPS and his

The resentment against AIADMK Geneal Secretary Sasikala Natarajan is gathering steam every minute. Sasikala, who was elected the legislative party leader on Sunday, is facing opposition from several quarters on taking over as Tamil Nadu chief minister.

While her swearing-in ceremony is caught in controversy, an online petition against Sasikala as Tamil Nadu chief minister on Change.org has garnered more than 1.5 lakh signatures.

HERE ARE THE DEVELOPMENTS:

The petitioner Tamil Asaran PSR said "Sasikala, with many money laundering cases (against her), should not be allowed to lead an Indian state".

The petition 'Dissolve Tamil Nadu government and stop Sasikala from becoming Tamil Nadu CM' has so far garnered 1,52,148 supporters. The petition will be delivered to President Pranab Mukherjee, Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao and the Chief Election Commissioner's office.

People have cited various reasons for not supporting Sasikala for the chief minister's post. Some said O Panneerselvam was doing a good job as the chief minister, and there was no need to change him. "OPS and his team have been doing an excellent job. Why change? Morally not correct," said Major (retd) Suresh Kumar Nair.

Others cited Sasikala's chequered history, with corruption cases pending against her, as their reason for signing the petition. "It will be a black day in the history of Tamil Nadu if the chief minister is again sent to jail on charges of corruption," said Saraswathi Venkatesan.

Some said she was not an elected representative and therefore should be the chief minister of the state. "Totally unfit and unacceptable as well as not a member of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly; Sasikala cannot be the chief minister of Tamil Nadu," said Kalpattu Vaitheeswaran.

On the political front, Sasikala is facing stiff opposition from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). DMK leader MK Stalin has sought Centre's intervention to stop Sasikala from becoming the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Stalin will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram said the people of Tamil Nadu and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) are moving in opposite directions. "It is the right of the AIADMK MLAs to elect their leader. It is the right of the people to ask if the leader deserves to be the Tamil Nadu chief minister," Chidambaram tweeted.

RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy had tweeted: "Sasikala the new CM. No celebrations. No crackers. No cheer. Eerie silence. Never seen a person so hated within and outside the party becoming CM".