Tamil Nadu | VK Sasikala quits active politics

With just a month to go for Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa’s close aide VK Sasikala, who was released from a Bengaluru prison on January 27, issued a statement Wednesday that she has decided to “step aside” from politics and that she will pray for Amma’s (Jayalalithaa’s) “golden rule”.

A two-page letter, signed by her, and released first on Jaya TV, appealed to Amma’s followers to work hard to ensure her rule. “As Amma used to say, defeating the evil force DMK should be the main aim of all obedient cadre of Amma’s party,” Sasikala wrote, thanking all who showered her with love.

While Sasikala’s surprise and sudden decision is expected to help the ruling AIADMK and avoid splitting of votes, it comes as a jolt to her nephew TTV Dhinakaran, who was ousted from AIADMK along with her in 2017. After defeating the AIADMK and DMK candidates in the high-decibel RK Nagar — Jayalalithaa’s constituency — bypoll in December 2017, he launched his own party, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), in March 2018. The party garnered a vote share of more than 4 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

After Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016, Sasikala had taken charge of the party. When O Panneerselvam led a revolt against her leadership upon the advice of some RSS and BJP leaders, Sasikala stood firm. The Panneerselvam faction was defeated in a floor test in the Assembly and she picked her loyalist Edappadi K Palaniswami as the Chief Minister of the AIADMK government in early 2017.

Having been convicted in a corruption case, Sasikala returned an outsider to Chennai last month, having completed her four-year jail term. It was the same case of disproportionate assets in which late Jayalalithaa was the first accused.