Weeks ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, V K Sasikala, expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and close aide of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, on Wednesday announced that "she will stay away from politics," but would pray for the "golden rule" of the late party supremo.
There were unconfirmed reports that the AIADMK would even parade the MLAs before the President.
'Sasikala, already determined to keep both the party and CM's post for herself, might not be able to do it, if she were to wait any longer,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
AIADMK leaders want Chinamma to succeed Amma as party general secretary, but it is not a done deal yet.
The chief minister may have Prime Minister Modi's backing.
Sasikala left Chennai on Thursday morning by a car which had to halt at several locations till it reached the Bengaluru highway as party cadres gathered to greet her.
'Our party cadre does not want her in the party.'
AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala said her thoughts will continue to remain with the party even from inside the jail.
Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are centred on chief ministerial candidates of rival parties. When Sasikala cannot contest even a panchayat election for six years after her release, even if she were to have sympathetic backers even among apolitical voters, she does not have any 'transferrable vote-bank' even otherwise for a chief minister candidate of her choice, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
If anyone is targeting Sasikala or the AIADMK, then they should be looking elsewhere, not at Deepa for leading a revolt successfully, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The all-important Supreme Court verdict, which will decide the future of AIADMK supremo VK Sasikala, locked in a battle for chief ministership with O Pannerselvam, is set to be pronounced on Tuesday.
Madusudanan had been removed from all posts besides the primary membership for going against the party principles and bringing disrepute to it, she said in a statement in Chennai.
Cyanide Mallika is serving a life term for killing seven women by giving them cyanide capsule in temples. Her motive had been to decamp with gold jewelries that unsuspecting victims wore.
Will just sit back and see, said Dinakaran over AIADMK merger.
Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran sought to play down party's decision.
'There are many people like me who were kept away from Jayalalithaa.' 'There is a coterie who did not allow her to meet people.'
However, the EC is yet to make an official announcement in this regard.
The ED had filed six cases in the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Economic Offences Court-I) which had discharged the duo in two cases in 2015 and directed them to face the trial in other cases.
Addressing reporters at the resort where the MLAs are staying, she chose to adopt a wait and watch policy when asked about the verdict in the disproportionate assets case expected in the coming week.
Emerging from a "consultative" meeting chaired by Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, Finance Minister D Jayakumar declared that the "unanimous" decision was taken in tune with the aspirations of the party cadres and people.
"A letter addressed to the governor, bearing my signature, is being circulated stating that I will kill myself. I would like to say that this letter is fake. It shows that there are some people, who cannot tolerate a lady's entry in electoral politics," Sasikala said.
We (the AIADMK government) are going to implement the programmes initiated by Amma (Jayalalithaa) in our remaining term of four-and-a-half-years. "Now a stable government is in place in the state. You will see a new era of development to realise the dreams of Amma under the guidance of Chinnamma (Sasikala)," he said.
While in the AIADMK office you could feel the vibes of victory, at OPS' house you could feel the struggle.
The BJP has nothing to lose after a point. For the DMK it is a difficult choice, as it would not want to give too much of space to a 'national party' lest the 'Dravidian duel' of the past decades should be lost forever, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
In focus are the assembly polls in 2026. From a BJP perspective, their attack on the ruling DMK, using the 'Hindutva' card, and Annamalai's targeting of both Dravidian majors on corruption has not worked, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a major boost to Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, three All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Members of Parliament, state School Education Minister K Pandiarajan and veteran AIADMK leader and spokesman C Ponnaiyan on Saturday joined his dissident camp.
'I see the queen bee kind of syndrome.' 'When they know that there is a queen bee, the bees will hang around her for some time and then fly away.' 'I won't be surprised if somebody else takes the place of the queen bee.'
Asserting that the dharma yudham is on, Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS said he and his followers would go to the people to seek justice.
Should Sasikala seek to follow Jayalalithaa's footsteps in the matter, and if at all she is not disinterested in keeping the twin posts together, the by-election to Jayalalithaa's constituency R K Nagar could be the starting point, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
M Natarajan, the estranged husband of Sasikala, describes in detail the association his wife and he shared with Jayalalithaa.
A section of AIADMK MLAs owing allegiance to party General Secretary V K Sasikala on Friday dismissed media reports and allegations from the Panneerselvam camp that they were being "detained" at a resort near Chennai, and asserted that they were "free".
'There is no doubt that Sasikala wanted the transition to go this way.' 'The only thing the AIADMK MLAs want is to stay in power.'
In a disciplinary action, three other functionaries, also belonging to Theni party district like Raja were dismissed.
If Tamil Nadu voters preferred the DMK combine, it owed to the Modi-Annamalai combo's ideological battle which often crossed the line of political decency and also challenged 'Tamil pride', argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
'A person who came to take care of Jayalalithaa's personal needs slowly took control of her political life.'
'Both are mature enough to realise that a break will not benefit either of them and both will be losers'
For now, Edappadi K Palaniswami is in the saddle in Tamil Nadu, and firmly so. Both inside the party and the government, he has made OPS a yes-man, as the latter used to be under Jayalalithaa, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
With the assembly polls only two years away, in 2026, any demoralising defeat in 2024, would challenge not only the party's continued relevance but also EPS's leadership, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP is focusing determinedly on the seats it lost in 2019, with the hope of winning these either independently or with the aid of its allies.
As the merger brought to an end weeks of suspense during which there was tough negotiations, the two factions said steps would be taken to expel party chief V K Sasikala.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances