Sasikala to visit Jayalalithaa memorial to mark AIADMK’s 50th founding day

Before she was sent to the prison in February 2017, Sasikala stopped at Jayalalithaa’s grave, where the mausoleum has come up now, and dramatically thumped her palm to the ground taking a vow

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (AIADMK) former interim general secretary VK Sasikala, who has been lying low for the past few months, will visit the former chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s memorial on the Marina Beach in Chennai on October 16-- a day ahead of the golden jubilee celebration of the founding of the AIADMK-- in what is being considered a politically significant move.

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

This will be Sasikala’s first visit to the memorial after her release from the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru where she served a four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets case. “She wasn’t able to do so before because of the previous government closing the memorial and then the pandemic continued with restrictions,” said a Sasikala aide. She is also likely to visit the residence of former chief minister M G Ramachandran (MGR) w ho founded the party in 1972 after splitting from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) under M Karunanidhi.

She had visited MGR’s residence on her way back from Bengaluru during a 24-hour road show when she sought to reclaim her position in the AIADMK which is being currently led by her former loyalists turned foes O Panneerselvam and Edappadi Palaniswami. The duo had expelled Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran and also ordered closure of Jayalalithaa’s memorial just a few days after it was inaugurated with fanfare leading to speculation that it was done to prevent Sasikala’s entry.

Before she was sent to the prison in February 2017, Sasikala stopped at Jayalalithaa’s grave, where the mausoleum has come up now, and dramatically thumped her palm to the ground taking a vow.

After her release, following staunch opposition by Palaniswami , who was handpicked by Sasikala as the chief minister, Sasikala laid low, delaying her political comeback before the April 6 assembly elections. After AIADMK’s loss, she emerged again with her team releasing her recorded phone conversations with a few members of the AIADMK and a splinter faction founded by Dhinakaran, the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).

In these audio clips, Sasikala repeatedly consoles and assures cadre that she will “set the party right” and re-establish the rule of MGR and Jayalalithaa. The mouthpiece of the AMMK, Dr Namadhu MGR last week published an article that quoted Sasikala saying that, “We would have formed the government, had everyone stayed united.” AMMK was formed with Sasikala’s supporters for the sole purpose of reclaiming the AIADMK. The party, however didn’t win any seat in the assembly elections.

Sasikala’s visit to Jayalalithaa’s memorial will be right after the rural local body election results, to be announced on October 12. The two-phase polls to nine newly-carved districts concluded on October 9 in which AMMK contested a few seats but the competition was chiefly between cadres of the ruling DMK and the principal opposition, AIADMK. Political analysts say that if AIADMK performs poorly then Sasikala would want to use their loss to her advantage to project herself as the only saviour of the party. “But Sasikala is a prisoner of her past,” says political commentator Raveendran Duraisamy. “Palaniswami and Panneerselvam will never give up their right over the two-leaves symbol and authority over the party. They will not admit her in the AIADMK where they were subordinates to her once. Now, she has no room in the party. She has a Herculean task of proving her strength.”

Since her release Sasikala has been a threat to the AIADMK’s current leadership and Palaniswami has staunchly opposed any truck with her while Panneerselvam, who has been sidelined, was often seen softening his stance towards her.

In a statement, AIADMK’s leadership has urged 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 yearlong celebration.