முதல்வரை சசிகலா செயல்படவிடவில்லை என்பதைதான் திமுக தொடர்ந்து சொல்லிக்கொண்டு வந்தது.அதையே ஓபிஎஸ் தன்னுடைய பேட்டியில் வெளிப்படுத்தியிருக்கிறார்

DMK working president M.K. Stalin declared on February 8, 2017, that caretaker Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam's public statements completely validated the stance consistently maintained by the DMK. Speaking to reporters following Panneerselvam's late-night press conference at Marina Beach, Stalin emphasized that the DMK had repeatedly alerted the public that AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala was running a shadow government and preventing the constitutional Chief Minister from functioning freely.

Stalin remarked that Panneerselvam had now openly conceded what opposition parties and the general public had witnessed for months. Extraconstitutional interference from Poes Garden had routinely paralyzed governance, compromised administrative autonomy, and sidelined cabinet ministers. Panneerselvam's admission that he was treated with hostility and systematically undermined corroborated every criticism previously leveled by the DMK regarding shadow power dynamics in Tamil Nadu.

The opposition leader stressed that governance by proxy subverted the state's democratic mandate. Stalin asserted that Tamil Nadu required transparent leadership accountable solely to the people and the legislature. He called on state institutions to reject extraconstitutional dominance, uphold administrative integrity, and restore democratic accountability so that urgent issues confronting the public could receive the government's undivided attention.