THE RETURN OF SASIKALA

On January 19, Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) flew to Delhi, ostensibly to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the inauguration of the new Jayalalithaa memorial in Chennai. But it was no secret that the main item on the agenda was the impending release of V.K. Sasikala, the mercurial aide of the late AIADMK icon J. Jayalalithaa. She will be released from the Parapp anna Agrahara Jail in Bengaluru on January 27. Chennai is already agog with talk of the impact she will have in the coming state assembly election. Of course, since her incarceration in 2017 was on charges of corruption and financial misdemeanour, she is debarred from contesting elections or holding any office for at least another four years.

- Amarnath K. Menon

Political analysts here say her release in an election year will set the proverbial cat among the pigeons. When she was convicted, her former acolytes in the ruling AIADMK, including CM Palaniswami (who she had appointed to the post), had first removed her as the party’s interim general secretary and then sacked and sidelined her and some others who were part of her cabal during Jayalalithaa’s reign. Undeterred, some of them, led by her enterprising nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran, came together and launched the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK). The party won the assembly byelection for the R.K. Nagar seat in Chennai (forced by Jayalalithaa’s passing) and secured close to 6 per cent of the vote in the 2019 general election, proving that the Sasikala factor was still a force to reckon with in Tamil Nadu.

Her return now fuels speculation on whether she will strike a conciliatory note with those in the AIADMK who disowned her (including EPS and current deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam, also known as OPS ) or whether she will pursue a path of her own with the AMMK. Her course of action is crucial in an election year as the AMMK has already proved its worth in south Tamil Nadu, where her Thevar community wields influence. This is significant enough to tilt the balance against the ruling AIADMK, considering that the rival DMK leads a formidable alliance, including the Congress and the Left parties.