VK Sasikala released after four years in jail
BENGALURU: VK Sasikala, the expelled leader of Tamil Nadu’s ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), on Wednesday completed her prison sentence after serving four years or 1,442 days in Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Jail in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.
Prison authorities completed the formalities of her release at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI, Victoria Hospital) in Bengaluru, where the 66-year old has been receiving treatment after she tested Covid-19 positive a week ago.
“The female prisoner (Sasikala) has been released from this jail on 27-1-2021,” according to an official order signed on Wednesday by the chief superintendent of Central Prison in Bengaluru. Prison officials wore PPE kits and visited Sasikala at the hospital around 11.20am on Wednesday to complete the formalities.
The news cheered her supporters, gathered in and around the hospital by the hundreds, who started to distribute sweets and shouting slogans in favour of ”Chinnamma’ (or mother’s sister) as she is fondly known among them. Sasikala was a close confidant of the late J Jayalalithaa, popularly called Amma.
Her release comes months ahead of assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, where the AIADMK is expected to face a stiff challenge from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) .
The AIADMK on Wednesday put up a huge show of strength in Chennai as CM Edapaddi Palaniswami inaugurated a ₹80 crore-phoenix-themed memorial for his predecessor, J Jayalalithaa.
Palaniswami was handpicked by Sasikala for the CM’S role, over current deputy CM, O Panneerselvam, who had officiated in that role through all of Jayalalithaa’s illness. However, he soon fell out with his one-time mentor and led the move to expel her from the party.
The release order also added that the hospital could continue to treat Sasikala as an ordinary patient. “As per protocol, she will be discharged on the 10th day (30 January) if she is asymptomatic and free of oxygen support for at least three days,” BMCRI said. Dr CR Jayanthi, the director of the institute, said that Sasikala wanted to receive treatment in the same hospital for another five days.
Sasikala and two others were convicted by the Supreme Court in a 21-year-old disproportionate assets case on February 14, 2017, upholding a 2014 order by a special court in Tamil Nadu.
“Our party and people of Tamil Nadu are waiting for her,” Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran said. Dhinakaran floated the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) to stake claim as the true heir of Jayalalithaa’s legacy.