AIADMK belongs to everyone, not one community: Sasikala attacks Palaniswami

AIADMK is moving towards establishing itself as a party of “one particular community” and cadres are not enjoying it, ousted general secretary V K Sasikala said on Tuesday, in a direct attack on her one-time protégé Edappadi K Palaniswami.

The former chief minister has been accused of placing leaders from his Gounder community in all key positions in the AIADMK, side-lining leaders from other castes. The criticism that the AIADMK has willingly embraced the tag ‘Gounder party’ gained credence after the party won 29 of the 50 seats at stake in the Western region, riding high on the “vote our man” (EPS) plank.

In a telephonic conversation with Sivanesan, an AIADMK cadre, from Theni district on Tuesday, Sasikala spoke in detail about how she was “back-stabbed” by everyone after she went to jail, why she “stepped aside” from politics and the necessity for her to come and “retrieve” the party.

Read more: Sasikala’s phone calls with her supporters: Decoding the plan

She also criticised the move to expel party cadre for speaking to her and blamed the present leadership for the loss in the assembly elections. The latest audio clip came a day after the AIADMK accused her of “enacting a drama” to re-enter the party and expelled 16 cadres who spoke to her over the phone.

“The party is moving towards one particular community. This is the biggest complaint I get from cadres who speak to me over the phone. Even those from the western region complain the same, and something has to be done. AIADMK is a party that is for all (communities), and it has remained so since the days of (MGR and Jayalalithaa),” Sasikala told Sivanesan.

Sasikala also hinted that she would have nominated O Panneerselvam as the Chief Minister in 2017 after he bid to occupy the top post failed if he had not rebelled against her. “He went on his own, otherwise I would have made him the (CM),” she said.

Gounders and Mukulathors, the community to which Sasikala and OPS belong, are traditional supporters of the AIADMK. But, the Gounders began to dominate the party after Palaniswami took over as Chief Minister in 2017 much to the discomfiture of the Mukulathors, who still complain about their side-lining in private.

Political observers feel Sasikala talking about the “one community” issue is a clear attempt at consolidating the Mukulathors under her.