Come October, Tamil Nadu politics which is in a slumber because of Covid-19 will get energised and action packed as VK Sasikala, the close aide of late J Jayalalithaa is expected to be released from prison, according to her lawyer Raja Senthoor Pandian.
Sasikala and two of her close relations are serving a four-year sentence in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in the Disproportionate Asset Case in which they were sentenced by a special court in Bangalore and that was upheld by the Supreme Court.
She surrendered before the prison authorities in February 2017, literally straight from the Centenary Auditorium of Madras University where she was expected to be sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu when the Supreme Court verdict shattered her dreams.
Before proceeding to Bangalore, she had handpicked Edappadi Palaniswami as chief minister which was endorsed by a majority of the AIADMK MLAs. But by August 2017, Sasikala and her cabal was eased out of the AIADMK and the group headed by Palaniswami and former chief minister O Panneerselvan took control of the party.
TTV Dhinakaran, nephew of Sasikala, floated Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhakam (AMMK) and it is likely that Chinnamma (as Sasikala is addressed by party cadre) would cast her lot with the former.
Pandian told reporters at Chennai on Friday that though her prison term ends by January 2021, she is likely to be released earlier for good behaviour as per Karnataka Prison Manual. “She is eligible for a remission of 129 days in her prison term based on the number of days served by her in jail,” saiod Pandian.
All kinds of speculations are hovering over the political landscape of Tamil Nadu about the course of action to be pursued by Chinnamma. It is interesting to note that Dhinakaran or other office bearers of the AMMK have not uttered anything against Stalin and DMK while they were at their best in lambasting the AIADMK and the BJP. There are many AIADMK legislators and even ministers who hold Sasikala in reverence and they are likely to jump the fence once the schedule for election to the Assembly is announced.