Sasikala accuses DMK of trying to destabilise AIADMK

Ousted AIADMK interim general secretary V K Sasikala on Wednesday accused ruling DMK of being behind “destabilising” the AIADMK and vowed to unite all factions of the party before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Sasikala said she believed that the DMK, and not BJP as is being speculated, is behind the split in AIADMK as the ruling party will be the “immediate beneficiary” of any chaos within the AIADMK.

“I have been with the AIADMK for the past 40 years and I have seen so many political developments. I think this rumour (BJP is behind the events in AIADMK) is being spread deliberately. Who gets the immediate benefit? It is the DMK, and that is why I believe DMK is behind all this,” Sasikala said.

She was responding to a question from journalists in Dindigul whether the BJP was behind the recent developments in the AIADMK. Sasikala also said she will unite all factions of the AIADMK before the 2024 elections.

Sasikala, who was released from the Parappana Agrahara prison in 2021, has been saying that she wants to unite all factions of the AIADMK but has made little headway. The AIADMK has further split with O Panneerselvam being expelled from the party by the dominant Edappadi K Palaniswami camp.

Sasikala was in Dindigul in southern Tamil Nadu to pay her last respects to Maya Thevar, the first MP of the AIADMK after M G Ramachandran floated the AIADMK following his exit from the DMK. Thevar contested the 1973 by-elections to Dindigul Lok Sabha constituency on Two Leaves, then an open symbol, and won – the victory was sweet because the AIADMK was launched just an year ago.