Sasikala show expenses put at Rs2 billion
CHENNAI: Sources in Tamil Nadu’s ruling Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( ADMK) said on Monday that its expelled general secretary VK Sasikala had spent a whooping Rs2 billion for the road show she staged as she returned from Bengaluru to Chennai last week ater four years of incarceration.
The confidant of late chief minister J. Jayalalitha travelled in a convoy of nearly 200 cars and took 23 hours to reach Chennai on Feb.7, meeting people and visiting temples during a journey that normally takes only about six hours.
There were more than 30 stops in her journey where she greeted her supporters and followers. She was welcomed with flowers, crackers, drone shows, and balloon shows.
At the same time, the sources said the ADMK was reportedly considering a suggestion from ally Bharatiya Janata Party to woo Sasikala so that all factions in the ruling party would unite to give a tough fight to the main opposition DMK in the upcoming state assembly election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy and his deputy O. Pannerselvam separately on Sunday, has reportedly favoured a merger of the ADMK and the AMMK led by Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran MLA.
While the ADMK doesn’t formally confirm this, it is known that Modi advised both the ADMK leaders to sink their differences and stay united so that the DMK does not exploit the situation.
The ADMK on Monday invited applications from those seeking party tickets to contest the Assembly polls. The deadline is March 5.
In a statement, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam said the party intends to fight in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
The cost of each application for Tamil Nadu is Rs 15,000 while Rs 5,000 for Puducherry and Rs 2,000 for Kerala.
The DMK, meanwhile, remained confident of a victory in the election, with party chief MK Stalin claiming that the alliance led by the DMK will bag all 234 seats.
The alliance had won 38 out of 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2019 elections.
The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) led by firebrand leader Vaiko Gopals wamy said on Monday his party will stay with the Dmk-led alliance in the Assembly election.
“We want to stop the onslaught of Hindutva,” Vaiko told partymen in Coimbatore.