Sasikala presses legal fight over ADMK top job
CHENNAI: The top job in Tamil Nadu’s ruling Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) party will now be a judicial subject as late chief minister J. Jayalalithaa’s confidant V K Sasikala has pressed her fight in a civil court to regain her post of general secretary.
Sasikala was stripped of the post by the current leadershipledbychiefministeredappadipalaniswamy ater she went to jail in a massive corruption case in which Jayalalithaa was the prime accused. The hearing in this case has been listed for March 15.
Palaniswamy and his deputy O. Paneerselvam dumped Sasikala in 2017 as they united to pursue the rule of “Amma” or mother as Jayalalithaa is called. While they accused “Chinnamma” or aunt
Sasikala of corrupting Jayalalithaa, they have always refrained from referring to the charges against the mother.
Inapetitiononthursday,sasikalaandhernephew TTV Dhinakaran MLA have sought early listing of a civil suit filed by them challenging Admk-related decisions taken by Palaniswamy and others.
Originally filed in the Madras High Court in 2017, the plea, now transferred to a civil court in the city, seekstodeclarethatmrpalaniswamy,panneerselvam, Forest Minister Dindigul Sreenivasan, former minister S. Semmalai and ADMK presidium chairman E Madusudhanan are not members of the party. All actions by these leaders in their capacity as its office-bearers are illegal and against the bylaws of the ADMK, Sasikala argues. It was the ADMK general council that selected Sasikala as general secretary ater the 2016 death of Jayalalithaa.
Sasikala, originally a domestic aide of Jayalalithaa and subsequently the most trusted one, had a free hand in choosing ADMK candidates. It is no secret that many of the ministers and MLAS were handpicked by her, including Palaniswamy. Sasikala was tipped to be chief minister ater Jayalalithaa’s death, when the Supreme Court sent her to jail in a case that found the chief minister holding Rs665 million assets disproportionate to her income.
Sasikala staged a 23-hour long, 200-car road show on Feb.8 as she returned from Bengaluru where she served four years in prison. The road show ratled the ADMK leadership, which has now chosen to keep quiet about her. She was released from the Parappana Agrahara jail on January 27, but was admited to the Victoria Hospital ater she tested positive for Covid-19.
Poll moves Satyabrata Sahoo, Chief Electoral Officer in Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, named two Joint Chief Electoral Officers as the poll body prepares for the state assembly elections due in April/may. Agriculture Department Joint Secretary T. Anand and Health and Family Welfare Department Joint Secretary Ajay Yadav will function in the new posts. Both are Indian Administrative Service officers.