Will Keep Away from Politics: Sasikala
AIADMK general secretary Sasikala. (IANS file photo)
CHENNAI – With the possibility of her reentry into the ruling AIADMK party shut at least for now, V. K. Sasikala, the close aide of Tamil Nadu’s late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, March 3 announced her decision to keep away from politics.
In a statement issued here, Sasikala said she would keep herself away from politics and would pray to God and also to late Jayalalithaa for the establishment of ‘Amma’ government in the state.
In AIADMK and political circles, the term Amma denotes Jayalalithaa.
Sasikala also urged Jayalalithaa’s followers to work hard to establish the Amma government in the state.
However, her statement did not explicitly urge the cadres of AIADMK party to work hard to establish the party’s rule again for the third time in the state.
Reacting to the development, political analyst Sriram Seshadri told IANS: “I see this as a temporary arrangement. In case the AIADMK party losses the April 6 assembly polls miserably, then she can come back to regain control of the party.”
“Sasikala has actually laid a foot in the door and this press release is a message to cadres that she tried her best that Jayalalithaa’s legacy won but Palaniswami didn’t allow it,” he added.
Sasikala, who was jailed in a corruption case for four years in Bengaluru, was released recently and has been claiming to be the general secretary of the ruling AIADMK.
She had the AIADMK party flag on the car in which she travelled from Bengaluru to here.
Soon after her release from the jail, Sasikala said that she would get into politics.
The BJP tried to bring her into AIADMK or the AMMK party floated by her nephew T. T. V. Dhinakaran.
However, Chief Minister K. Palaniswami and others had opposed her reentry into the party.
Soon after Jayalalithaa’s death, all the AIADMK party leaders had requested her to become the party’s general secretary and later she was elected for the post.
Subsequently, Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s decision of pronouncing her guilty in the corruption case and sentencing her to a four-year jail term.
