NEW DELHI: A week ago when Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam came to New Delhi to meet PM Narendra Modi , the CM's office was asked for a letter from him ascertaining whether OPS really wanted any other leader from the party accompanying him for the meeting.On OPS's request, AIADMK leader and LS Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai accompanied him, along with bureaucrats Sheela Balakrishnan and former Chief secretary Rama Mohana Rao.According to bureaucrats in Tamil Nadu, even after the office responded clarifying there was no problem, PM Modi at the end of the meeting is said to have had a conversation with OPS alone for a short while."The state needs good administration and he needs to follow the path set out by Amma," that was the message that has been given to CM O Pannerselvam by the PM, said sources. What was probably not told to him in clear words but is quite evident now is the centre's backing to him and push to enable him to assert his authority, even as the AIADMK gets ready to announce its general secretary on Thursday. Senior ministers are already urging Sasikala to take over the party.While Union minister Venkaiah Naidu recently stated that the centre will back OPS as "he was chosen by Jayalalithaa," it is also now emerging that not just the BJP, the PM himself has been monitoring the situation in Tamil Nadu whose former CM Jayalalithaa was considered his good friend. The centre has taken it upon itself to ensure the State doesn't go into the "wrong hands," feel senior party leaders both in the BJP and AIADMK.Not unrelated to all this is the story of at least eight high profile raids that have taken place in the State in the last two weeks, the most dramatic ones being in the houses of former chief secretary Rama Mohana Rao. "Friends" and relatives of certain ministers have not been spared."There is certainly a pattern in the raids. It is not only to break the sand mining mafia but also send across a message to some people in the State that the Centre is watching and will not let a single family take over the State undemocratically," a senior AIADMK leader said.The centre had tried to be most helpful to Jayalalithaa in the last few months, recall BJP leaders, so much that for the inauguration of Metro rail in Chennai in September that turned out to be Jayalalithaa's last public appearance, minister Venkaiah Naidu flew down to Tamil Nadu while Jayalithaa had participated in the event through a video conference.Sources in the BJP said Sasikala's family - the team of "five and a half" - M Natarajan, V Dhivaharan, T T V Dinakaran, S. Venkatesh, Sivakumar and J. Illavarasi (called Mini chinnamma) are viewed with suspicion by the centre."These were the people who were expelled by Jayalithaa and never taken back by her. Not only did they surround Jayalalithaa's body during her last journey but are also giving orders to party workers now. The PM finds it better to deal with people such as OPS or even Stalin. The corrupt administration of the old guard is something he despises,"an official here said.Sasikala too has tried to reach out to BJP leadership, sources said. In fact her husband M Natarajan has tried to meet the PM and four other top ministers in the last few days but has not been able to get any appointment with any of them. However, according to sources here, OPS has been asked to come to Delhi often by the officials here to strengthen his relationship with New Delhi. The bureaucracy of the State too, in informal ways, has been told to look at "running an effective administration" and not indulge in corrupt practises.Days ahead of the crucial GC meeting on Dec 29 in which Sasikala is expected to take over the party the centre too is trying its best to not let the control go to a camp they fear will bring damage to the state. "Not many people know why Sasikala was expelled by Jayalalithaa in 2011. PM Modi certainly does as he and Jaya were good friends. He supported her in her illness. The PM doesn't want the State to go into the wrong hands," said a BJP leader.The Modi government is also taking its time to appoint a governor for the State and is seen as largely satisfied with Maharashtra governor Vidya sagar Rao's performance in TN as its acting governor. A month ago the centre had thought about sending former Gujarat CM Anandiben to Tamil Nadu but the latter had wanted to stay back for the elections in the State. "It was Vidya sagar Rao who ensured OPS was sworn in. That was very important to us," a BJP leader said.Sources added that now officials from State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, State revenue intelligence and some other bureaucrats are also under the scanner in the ongoing investigations against sand mining baron J Shekhar Reddy, who was among the first to be arrested and remanded in custody by a CBI court in Chennai recently for allegedly possessing over Rs 130 crore in cash and 177 kg gold bars. Leads of the raids had come from the handwritten diary which fell into the hands of the IT department during the November 30-December 1 raids on the properties of Chandrakanth Ramalingam of Ramalingam Construction Company in Bangalore. "Ramalingam is related to a minister in Tamil Nadu. After which one thing led to another. The diary has over 80 names of top bureaucrats and "contractors" working on government contracts in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka," an official said.After the IT raid on Rao, the CBI had on December 22 arrested Surveyor Ratnam and another quarry contractor Pollachi Ramachandran, and Reddy’s auditor Premkumar following investigations that resulted in seizure of 127 kg of gold and over Rs 170 crore. Sand-mining baron Shekar Reddy’s associate Ratnam, a quarry contractor was arrested on charge of exchanging unaccounted old currency notes. Surprise raids were conducted at the office of State Central Cooperative Bank chairman and AIADMK functionary R Ilangovan in Salem district, also a close associate of a prominent state minister. "Interestingly, the minister was also seen as an alternative for OPS, who was also pushed by the Sasikala camp. We believe it is also a strong message to them,"an AIADMK leader said.