Sasikala to return to Jayalalithaa memorial today. Know why it's politically significant

Sasikala, according to people familiar with the matter, is also expected to drop by today at the residence of ex-Tamil Nadu chief minister and party founder MG Ramachandran (MGR).

VK Sasikala, the former interim general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), who has been lying low for the past few months, is set to visit former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's memorial in Chennai on Saturday. Observers say this politically significant move could be Sasikala's bid to reclaim her position in the AIADMK. Sasikala will be visiting the 14,100-square feet-wide Jayalalithaa memorial situated at the Marina Beach in the city today, a day ahead of the golden jubilee celebration of the founding of the AIADMK.

V K Sasikala is considered a threat by the AIADMK leadership and they are stonewalling her attempts to return to the party.  (File Photo / PTI)

The AIAMDK is currently being led by former Sasikala loyalists-turned-foes O Paneerselvam and Edappadi Palaniswami, who was once handpicked by Sasikala as the chief minister. In 2017, hours before she left for Bengaluru prison after being sentenced in a disproportionate assets case, she was removed from the post of AIADMK's interim general secretary. Since then, both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam have maintained that she is not part of AIADMK anymore.

Sasikala, before being lodged at a Bengaluru prison, had stopped by at Jayalalithaa's grave, where the memorial has come up now, and in a dramatic gesture - thumped her palm to the ground taking a vow. Years later, she is now set to return to the same spot, her first visit to the memorial after being released from prison.

Sasikala, according to people familiar with the matter, is also expected to drop by today at the residence of ex-Tamil Nadu chief minister and party founder MG Ramachandran (MGR), who formed the AIADMK in 1972 after splitting from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) under M Karunanidhi.

Sasikala, now considered a threat to the AIADMK's current leadership, had earlier proclaimed to her fellow cadres that she would “set the party right” and re-establish the rule of MGR and Jayalalithaa. Although she lay low for a few months after her release from prison, she roared back after the loss of the AIADMK in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections earlier this year, releasing a series of recorded phone conversations with AIADMK members and announcing a splinter faction formed by her nephew TTV Dhinakaran - the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK). It is at this time that political strategists believe Sasikala is making use of the opportune moment to seize control of the party from her rivals.

Meanwhile, the AIADMK's leadership, for its part, has released a statement urging the party cadre to celebrate the historic golden jubilee by following Covid-19 safety norms. Starting from October 17, when it turns 50, the party plans to hold a year-long celebration.