Chennai: OPS versus Sasikala battle on Wednesday escalated into a fight to the finish war that can potentially break the AIADMK up, despite AIADMK guarding all its MLAs under lock and key.

After AIADMK MLAs meeting held in Chennai, as a show of strength, Sasikala and her men, loaded all the MLAs into three luxury buses and sent them off to an undisclosed location, lest they be lured away by the “traitor OPS”

One of the MLAs K Manickam from Madurai district, who was in the Sasikala camp, gave them a miss and landed at the residence of OPS and said there was no need to change him as he was doing a good job.

A first time MLA, he was the first MLA to openly appear with OPS. “It was Amma (late J.Jayalalithaa) who identified Panneerselvam and gave him the Chief Minister post twice when she faced legal troubles. He became the Chief Minister for third time after her death,” Manickam said.

But, earlier in the day, Sasikala branded OPS as a traitor and warned any of her MLAs from siding with him. Traitors will be identified and dealt with strictly, she said addressing the MLAs. She also held OPS guilty of hobnobbing with the DMK.

Sasikala’s frontal attack against OPS came soon after he revolted and ordered a judicial probe into the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. He announced a probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the whole affair as people of Tamil Nadu must know the truth. NGO activist Traffic Ramaswamy, who had filed a PIL on Jayalalithaa’s health details was also seen with OPS as was former speaker PH Pandian, who alleged that Jayalalithaa may have been murdered.

AIADMK general secretary invoked the name of Jayalalithaa to mount her attack.

“Amma was my God for 33 years during which there were many ups and downs, many calamities…She overcame all of those, and I overcame all of those alongside her and we will overcome this one too… I swear this in the name of Amma,” Sasikala said.

Revenue minister, RP Udayakumar, said “we are strongly behind Chinnamma and asserted that no one can break the party. OPS has committed political suicide.”

The AIADMK has plans to visit Delhi to call on the President Pranab Mukherjee and parade all the MLAs before him as a pressure tactic to force the governor to invite Sasikala to form the government.

Sasikala has some 130 members, barring a couple, along with her and will easily win the floor test if ordered to do so.

But OPS is also equally confident that given a chance he would prove majority inside assembly. “I am in touch with many MLAs and you will see how things develop,” he told media persons. OPS said he was ready to withdraw his resignation if the cadres and the people wanted him to.

The two things weighing on the mind of the governor are the disproportionate assets case verdict, likely to come within a few days and as early as Tuesday and also the EC ruling that Sasikala was not elected properly as per AIADMK guidelines and Constitution, said sources.