The tussle between the AIADMK and the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK, the political outfit launched by TTV Dhinakaran,) for the legacy of late J Jayalalithaa has taken a new turn with the release of VK Sasikala, the jailed aide to the former party supremo last week.
Sasikala, who has been serving a four-year rigorous imprisonment in the Parappana Agrahara prison since 2017 as an accused in the disproportionate asset case was released after the completion of the term on January 27 and is returning to Chennai on February 7.
The political landscape in Tamil Nadu is in for action packed season as Sasikala has made to clear that she would fight for the retrieval of her position as general secretary of the party. She made it clear by travelling in a car that spotted the AIADMK flag from prison to a resort in a suburb in Bangalore.
When she surrendered before the jail authorities on February 15, 2017, it was as the general secretary of the AIADMK. She had been unanimously elected as the General Secretary of the party in the general body meeting of the party held on December 29, 2016.
The then Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and his Cabinet colleagues (including Edappadi Palaniswamy) had called on Sasikala at Veda Nilayam, the personal bungalow of late Jayalalithaa and placed the resolution electing Chinnamma (as Sasikala is addressed by the cadre) as general secretary at her feet.
Within a week, the then Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, D Thambidurai issued a statement in his official letter pad demanding Sasikala be made the Chief Minister as “the precedence in AIADMK has been that the general secretary would hold the post of Chief Minister for smooth functioning of the party as well as the Government”. This was followed by all senior leaders “pleading” with Chinnamma to get sworn in as Chief Minister.
Tamil Nadu witnessed many dramatic events in the fortnight following the election of Sasikala as party general secretary.