Fight over Jaya’s legacy intensifies
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), its expelled leader VK Sasikala and breakaway faction Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) staked their claims to the legacy of J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday, the 73rd birth anniversary of the late chief minister, ahead of assembly elections.
Chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam led the homage at the AIADMK headquarters and at Jayalalithaa’s mausoleum. Sasikala and her nephew and AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran held a modest event at her residence.
“My intention is that all of us have to be united to be victorious and govern again,” Sasikala said after garlanding Jayalalithaa’s portrait in her first public appearance after she returned to Chennai from Bengaluru following her release from a fouryear prison sentence and discharge from a hospital where she was teated for Covid-19. AIADMK leaders have disowned Sasikala and vowed not to take her back into the party’s fold, but she still identify herself as the party’s general secretary.
Sasikala recalled Jayalalithaa’s statement that the AIADMK would rule Tamil Nadu for 100 years. Palaniswami had also rallied his party cadre using the same statement in January when he inaugurated a temple for Jayalalithaa and her predecessor and party founder MG Ramachandran (MGR).
Sasikala returned from Bengaluru prison to Chennai on February 8 after a roadshow that lasted 23 hours during which she sought to position herself as the true heir of Jayalalithaa, whose death in 2016 triggered a power struggle in the AIADMK. Palaniswami was her candidate for CM, but he subsequently distanced himself from her.
Her nephew Dhinakaran launched the AMMK in 2018 with Sasikala supporters.
Although Sasikala has never contested an election or campaigned in one, she is no political greenhorn, having lived with Jayalalithaa for three decades as her confidante. During this time, Sasikala cultivated her own constituency as a powerful behind-the-scenes operator.
Following Jayalalithaa’s death, Sasikala was chosen AIADMK’S interim general secretary but her chief ministerial aspirations were cut short when she was convicted in a disproportionate assets case in February 2017. Palaniswami and Paneersevlam united their warring factions and have since jointly held control of the party and government. The AIADMK expelled Sasikala and Dhinakaran in September 2017. On Wednesday, Sasikala received a stream of visitors including S Seeman, founder of Tamil nationalist party, Naam Tamilar Katchi, and actor-politician R Sarathkumar, leader of the Samathuva Makkal Katchi. “We had been with the AIADMK for 10 years and whenever we met Jayalalithaa, she (Sasikala) was always there,” Sarathkumar said.
“Though these are smaller parties, Sasikala meeting them on Jayalalithaa’s birth anniversary is a political message that she is serious about her entry into politics,” said a commentator on Dravidian politics, Durai Karunanidhi. Sasikala’s legal team has approached a civil court in Chennai for early listing of her case challenging the AIADMK general council meeting that expelled her. The case will come up on March 15.
Sasikala’s team formed a Whatsapp group for journalists on Wednesday and released a statement with the AIADMK flag, addressing her as the general secretary. Dhinakaran has said that AMMK was formed for Sasikala to reclaim the AIADMK and merge rival factions. On Wednesday, Dhinakaran told reporters that AMMK will make electoral decisions on Thursday. When asked if Sasikala wanted a merger of the AIADMK and AMMK, he said: “You have to ask her.”
The AIADMK, which has changed vastly during Sasikala’s four-year imprisonment, has rejected notions of a merger. The present leadership wouldn’t risk being sidelined by bringing her into its fold, observers say. The AIADMK has also attempted to leverage public sentiment that is perceived to have turned against Sasikala.
“Whatever she says is meant for AMMK cadre, not us,” AIADMK spokesperson D Jayakumar told reporters. In Thanjavur district a skirmish took place between AIADMK and AMMK workers over raising their respective party flags at Jayalalithaa’s statue on Wednesday.
“Dhinakaran has taken an anti-palaniswami and antimodi stand but wants a merger. This may not be solved unless the BJP ...brokers a compromise but that seems unlikely,” said political analyst Ravindran Duraisamy.