<p>Two days after the party’s disastrous performance in the elections to urban local bodies, AIADMK’s ousted interim general secretary V K Sasikala on Thursday made a fervent appeal for “unity” by indirectly nudging the current leadership to take her and nephew T T V Dhinakaran into the outfit. </p>.<p>In her speech on the occasion of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s 74th birth anniversary, Sasikala said the AIADMK, in its 50 years of existence, had never faced “successive electoral defeats” – the party has been on a losing streak since 2019 – and asked everyone to work “unitedly” in the interests of the party to strengthen it.</p>.<p>“The party has come to this situation as it (the current leadership) forgot those who sowed the seeds, nurtured, and saved the party. This is the time for us to unite. If we don’t unite now, we will fall together. If everyone realises this fact, we can emerge victorious in the future. Don’t get dejected by the electoral losses,” Sasikala said. </p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/dmk-govt-observes-j-jayalalithaa-s-birth-anniversary-1084748.html" target="_blank">DMK govt observes J Jayalalithaa’s birth anniversary</a></strong></p>.<p>Though Sasikala laid the blame for the electoral defeats on O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami, at the same time, she reached out to them in her speech by pitching for “unity” to take on the “enemy” (read DMK). </p>.<p>“Let us join hands to win the enemies and take a pledge to usher in the rule of M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa today,” Sasikala said. She also recalled her contributions to the AIADMK and said she never expected anything for herself when Jayalalithaa was alive. </p>.<p>The comments by the long-time aide of Jayalalithaa came two days after the AIADMK was routed in the urban local body elections. The principal opposition party with 66 MLAs is in a position to form councils in just a handful of municipalities and less than 100 town panchayats – in several municipal corporations, the AIADMK candidates forfeited their deposits.</p>.<p>This is Sasikala’s latest outreach to AIADMK’s dual leadership which continues to cold shoulder her. Sasikala, who announced she was “stepping aside” from politics just days before the 2021 assembly elections, had been pushing the two leaders to accommodate her and Dhinakaran into the party to make it “stronger.”</p>.<p>Notwithstanding the pressure, OPS and EPS went ahead with the intra-party elections by getting elected as coordinator and joint coordinator respectively. While the “dual leadership” was expected to rejuvenate the cadre, the results in the election show otherwise, political analysts. </p>.<p>AMMK, which is run by Dhinakaran, demonstrated it is still a “potent force” in the state by winning in over 100 wards and splitting the AIADMK votes. The chorus for merger of the Sasikala faction into the AIADMK has grown louder after the election results. </p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>Two days after the party’s disastrous performance in the elections to urban local bodies, AIADMK’s ousted interim general secretary V K Sasikala on Thursday made a fervent appeal for “unity” by indirectly nudging the current leadership to take her and nephew T T V Dhinakaran into the outfit. </p>.<p>In her speech on the occasion of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s 74th birth anniversary, Sasikala said the AIADMK, in its 50 years of existence, had never faced “successive electoral defeats” – the party has been on a losing streak since 2019 – and asked everyone to work “unitedly” in the interests of the party to strengthen it.</p>.<p>“The party has come to this situation as it (the current leadership) forgot those who sowed the seeds, nurtured, and saved the party. This is the time for us to unite. If we don’t unite now, we will fall together. If everyone realises this fact, we can emerge victorious in the future. Don’t get dejected by the electoral losses,” Sasikala said. </p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/dmk-govt-observes-j-jayalalithaa-s-birth-anniversary-1084748.html" target="_blank">DMK govt observes J Jayalalithaa’s birth anniversary</a></strong></p>.<p>Though Sasikala laid the blame for the electoral defeats on O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami, at the same time, she reached out to them in her speech by pitching for “unity” to take on the “enemy” (read DMK). </p>.<p>“Let us join hands to win the enemies and take a pledge to usher in the rule of M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa today,” Sasikala said. She also recalled her contributions to the AIADMK and said she never expected anything for herself when Jayalalithaa was alive. </p>.<p>The comments by the long-time aide of Jayalalithaa came two days after the AIADMK was routed in the urban local body elections. The principal opposition party with 66 MLAs is in a position to form councils in just a handful of municipalities and less than 100 town panchayats – in several municipal corporations, the AIADMK candidates forfeited their deposits.</p>.<p>This is Sasikala’s latest outreach to AIADMK’s dual leadership which continues to cold shoulder her. Sasikala, who announced she was “stepping aside” from politics just days before the 2021 assembly elections, had been pushing the two leaders to accommodate her and Dhinakaran into the party to make it “stronger.”</p>.<p>Notwithstanding the pressure, OPS and EPS went ahead with the intra-party elections by getting elected as coordinator and joint coordinator respectively. While the “dual leadership” was expected to rejuvenate the cadre, the results in the election show otherwise, political analysts. </p>.<p>AMMK, which is run by Dhinakaran, demonstrated it is still a “potent force” in the state by winning in over 100 wards and splitting the AIADMK votes. The chorus for merger of the Sasikala faction into the AIADMK has grown louder after the election results. </p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
