CHENNAI: Acting governor Vidyasagar Rao, who on Thursday reached Chennai and met the deposed chief minister O. Panneerselvam and chief minister-elect V.K. Sasikala, has sent a report to the Centre on the political crisis in Tamil Nadu.

The umpire finally arrived on the pitch and the opposing sides squared off, the march to the battlefield punctuated by dramatic scenes from the action-packed political theatre of the state.  He met Panneerselvam at 5.00pm and Sasikala, who staked claim to form the government after submitting a list of around 130 MLAs, at 7:30pm.

The time the governor takes to arrive at a decision can make or mar fortunes. If Rao waits for long, it is expected to help Panneerselvam draw more converts to his side. OPS did manage to add a few significant names to his ranks today.

On Friday, an NGO is expected to move the Supreme Court, requesting it to stay any elevation of Sasikala till the top court delivers its verdict in an assets case against her next week.

Amid the imponderables, some standout events unfolded in the southern state.

♦ An MLA jumped from one of the buses in which the Sasikala camp was ferrying legislators to a minister's house en route to a beach resort when it slowed down. He ran to the house of the caretaker chief minister, Panneerselvam.

♦ A veteran from the MGR era executed a stunning somersault and moved over to OPS, days after endorsing Sasikala.

♦ Sasikala took the envelope containing the MLAs' names to the memorial of Jayalalithaa, placed it there and wiped a few tears.

♦ Panneerselvam vowed to convert Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden bungalow into a memorial for the leader. If he succeeds, the casualty will be the current occupant: Sasikala.

♦ Panneerselvam fished out a letter attributed to Sasikala and addressed to Jayalalithaa in 2012 in which Chinnamma told her "Akka" (elder sister): "The act of my relatives and friends conspiring against Akka is an unforgivable treachery. Whoever it maybe I do not want to have anything to do with them."

♦ The letter, written before Sasikala was readmitted to Jayalalithaa's house, carried these words too: "As far as I am concerned, I have absolutely no desire to enter politics or public life, or hold posts in the party or become MLA or MP or become minister."

♦ The "same Sasikala on Thursday said she would become chief minister at any cost. Who is betraying their promise to Amma?" Panneerselvam asked his supporters. Political pundits were quick to highlight that till yesterday, Panneerselvam had addressed her as "Chinnamma" which became "Sasikala" several times in his speech today - the equivalent of crossing the Rubicon.

At Raj Bhavan, Panneerselvam reportedly requested the governor to let him prove his majority in the Assembly.

The OPS camp received a substantial boost as E. Madhusudhanan, presidium chairman and a veteran leader, switched camps and declared that the AIADMK needed to be saved from the clutches of Sasikala's family. The 74-year-old leader was among the first leaders who had held Sasikala's hands three days after Jayalalithaa's death and pleaded with her to become general secretary of the party.

The legislator count of the OPS camp went up to seven after an MLA - former minister Shanmuganathan - jumped from the bus. Shanmuganathan said he signed the register supporting Sasikala on Wednesday afternoon but changed his mind after hearing her assert that "nothing can stop me from becoming chief minister".

Panneerselvam said that more than 30 MLAs were ready to extend support but were being kept captive in the beach resort near Mahabalipuram. He summoned the state's chief secretary and the DGP to find out if the MLAs could be freed with police help but was advised to take up the matter with the governor.

-The Telegraph Calcutta