Even nearly five years after having lost the position of a pivot in the AIADMK, the sidelined former interim general secretary, V.K. Sasikala, continues to be a subject of major political discourse both within and outside the party. Though the Sasikala factor was a subject of discussion even during the lifetime of former Chief Minister Jayalalaithaa, who regarded her a confidante, it has acquired a new dimension ever since Ms. Sasikala returned to Chennai from Bengaluru in February 2021 after completing a four-year sentence in a disproportionate assets case.
Last week, the Theni district unit of the AIADMK adopted a resolution calling for the re-entry of Ms. Sasikala and her nephew and AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran into the organisation. The resolution is significant for a couple of reasons. Theni is the home district of AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam, who revolted against Ms. Sasikala in February 2017 before she went to the Bengaluru jail. The meeting was held at Mr. Panneerselvam’s farmhouse, although it was the district secretary of the party, S.P.M. Syed Khan, who presided over it. The development proves that despite Ms. Sasikala being declared persona non grata by former Chief Minister and party co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his supporters, there are still some sections in the party which want her back in the organisation.
Even before the excitement over the event could die down came the news that Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam had a telephone conversation in which the latter is said to have distanced himself from the Theni development. But that was not to be the end of the drama. The next day, Mr. Panneerselvam’s younger brother O. Raja, who is the chief of the Theni District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union (Aavin), met Ms. Sasikala in Tiruchendur, one of the six abodes of Lord Muruga, although she was on a “pilgrimage”. Soon after that meeting, Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaniswami expelled Mr. Raja from the party.
This is the second time in the past three years that Mr. Raja has been expelled from the party. In December 2018 too, hours after being elected chief of Madurai district’s Aavin, he was expelled only to be re-admitted a week later after he expressed regret. The reason for his expulsion at that time was that Mr. Raja had approached Mr. Dhinakaran for support without Mr. Panneerselvam’s “knowledge and approval”.
However, there are sceptics who doubt whether Mr. Panneerselvam will stick to the anti-Sasikala line permanently. For, in January 2021, one of his sons, V.P. Jaya Pradeep, wished Ms. Sasikala a speedy recovery when she was down with COVID-19. Eight months later, when Mr. Panneerselvam’s wife Vijayalakshmi died at a hospital in Chennai, Ms. Sasikala rushed to offer her condolences to the AIADMK’s coordinator.
In June last year, a large number of district units of the party adopted a resolution condemning Ms. Sasikala for seeking to “take over the party and create confusion among its cadre.” Yet, the units in Theni and Thanjavur, the home district of the party’s deputy coordinator, R. Vaithialingam, did not follow suit. What has not gone unnoticed is that Ms. Sasikala, Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Vaithialingam all belong to the Mukkolathor community.
Despite several attempts, Ms. Sasikala has not been able to wean away the rank and file of the party, which, in her own words, had “never seen such a spell of continuous electoral reverses” as it did since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. At present, a majority of the party’s office bearers, if not more, are behind Mr. Palaniswami, who does not seem to be toning down his strong anti-Sasikala line.
ramakrishnan.t@thehindu.co.in
