Chennai, Sept. 19 :    Chennai, Sept. 19:  ADMK MLA Thanga Tamilselvan resigned today giving rise to speculation that chief minister Jayalalithaa could be contemplating stepping down from office. Tamilselvan has resigned his Andipatti seat, one of the four constituencies from which Jayalalithaa's nomination papers had been rejected during the May Assembly polls. Speaker K. Kalimuthu told reporters that Tamilselvan sent in his resignation letter on September 15. Tamilselvan has not given any reasons for his resignation. Political circles here said the timing of Tamilselvan's resignation is significant as Jayalalithaa has to get herself elected by November 14 to remain in power. While the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court has reserved orders on petitions challenging Jayalalithaa's appointment as chief minister despite her electoral disqualification, her appeals against the convictions in the Tansi land deal and Pleasant Stay Hotel cases are to be heard by a new judge of Madras High Court only after October 1. Sources said Jayalalithaa is keeping her options open. If she has to step down in case the Supreme Court order goes against her, she can still file her nomination papers for the Andipatti seat when the Election Commission notifies the bypoll. Pending the outcome of the appeals in the Tansi land cases, which would substantially decide her immediate political future, she could also have elbow room to call the electoral option as a way out of the tangle. But that would hinge around whether a new returning officer accepts her nomination this time, the sources said. With the Saidapet seat in Chennai also having fallen vacant after the recent death of DMK MLA V. Perumal, the Election Commission has been informed of both the vacancies. The sources said the Election Commission will need a minimum of 25 days to go through the election process. This, the sources said, would not go in Jayalalithaa's favour. She may have to settle for an interim chief minister before the legal tangle is sorted out.