The general council meeting of the AIADMK scheduled for Thursday could be a peaceful affair despite Wednesday’s unpleasant scenes at the party headquarters in Chennai. Wednesday saw loyal workers of the party including women activists bashing up lingeswara Tilagan, husband of Sasikala Pushpa, the expelled Rajya Sabha member, and her lawyer when they went to the party headquarters ostensibly to file nomination paper for the election of the post of general secretary which fell vacant following the demise of J Jayalalithaa on December 5.
The duo were whisked away by police even as the activists made it known that Sasikala Pushpa was not welcome to the party headquarters. She was expelled from the AIADMK by the then general secretary Jayalalithaa following reports about a public fisticuff she had at New Delhi airport with Tiruchi Shiva, the DMK MP.
“The agenda of Thursday’s general council meeting is silent about the election of general secretary. The meeting is expected to express condolences over the passing away of Jayalalithaa and ask the Centre to honour her with Bharat Ratna. Even if, the meeting takes up the election for the post of general secretary, the general feeling is that it would be a smooth affair,” said Dr Sumant Raman, a medical doctor-turned-political analyst.
He pointed out that all top leaders of the AIADMK including Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has asked Sasikala Natarajan to take over the mantle and lead the party at this crucial juncture. “That itself proves that there is no disunity or differences of opinion among the top leadership,” said Raman.
CR Saraswathi, the AIADMK spokesperson, said Thursday’s General Council meeting is going to be a smooth affair. “Though Chinnamma (Sasikala Natarajan) has not responded to the pleas by the leaders, she may react on Thursday once the General Council passes the resolution asking her to take over the leadership of the party,” said Saraswathi.
But the sudden appearance of larger-than-life posters of Deepa Jayakumar, niece of Jayalalithaa, all over Chennai and other parts of the State have baffled party cadre. Some of the party cadre who have assembled in Chennai by Wednesday noon itself refused to divulge what was in their mind. “ I don’t know what is in store for Thursday. My only prayer is that the party stays united and strong,” said a senior leader from Thiruvarur.
Both Raman and Saraswathi were unanimous in their view that Deepa would not be able to make any impact in the AIADMK. “Where was she all these yearsIJ What is her standing in the party hierarchyIJ How can a person who was a non-entity till the other day stake claims for party leadership,” asked Saraswathi.