Tamil Nadu CM says no chance of her returning to ADMK, invites PM
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, who is also the co-coordinator of the AIADMK, said in New Delhi on Tuesday that there was no possibility of VK Sasikala, the jailed aide to late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, returning to the party.
The TN Chief Minister met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday. During his meeting with the Prime Minister, Palaniswami extended the former an invitation to visit the State for inaugurating a slew of projects there.
Ruling out Sasikala’s inclusion in the AIADMK-led front, Palaniswami said, “There is no chance… She is not with the party now. I can say that ...100 per cent…there is no chance of Sasikala returning to AIADMK.”
The fact that he shut the door of Sasikala after his meeting with Modi and Shah is significant.
Sasikala is serving a four-year-jail term in Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Jail in connection with the disproportionate asset case in which she was an accused along with late Jayalalithaa, and two others. All the accused were sentenced to four-year rigorous imprisonment by a special court in Bengaluru which was upheld by the Supreme Court.
Sasikala’s prison term is coming to an end on January 26 and she would be released on January 27, said her lawyer S Pandian. Sasikala was elected General Secretary of the AIADMK by its general council on December 29, 2016. Edappadi and O Panneerselvam convened a General Council meeting of the AIADMK in August 2017 and abolished the post of general secretary.
Palaniswamy said on Tuesday that Sasikala entered the party only after the demise of Jayalalithaa, but he was silent about the December 29, 2016 general council meeting held at Chennai (which was attended by him also) that unanimously elected Sasikala as General Secretary.
Hints of a patch-up between the AIADMK and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhakam floated by TTV Dhinakaran (Sasikala’s nephew) are in the air. Former AIADMK Minister Gokula Indira had staged a demonstration against Udhayanidhi Stalin, the heir apparent in the DMK, for his derogatory speech against Palaniswamy and Sasikala. A number of current MLAs owe their position to the Chinnamma (as Sasikala is addressed even by Palaniswamy).
