Sasikala to visit Jayalalithaa's memorial on October 16

Sasikala's visit assumes significance in political circles after it became increasingly clear that the AIADMK is not very keen on taking her back

Ousted AIADMK interim general secretary V K Sasikala will on October 16 visit the J Jayalalithaa Memorial on the Marina Beach here as part of commemorating 50 years of founding the party. This will be Sasikala’s first visit to her friend’s memorial after her release from Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru following completion of a four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

Sasikala had planned to visit Jayalalithaa memorial immediately on her return from Bengaluru. However, the memorial was hurriedly closed by the then AIADMK government led by Edappadi K Palaniswami days after it was inaugurated leading to speculation it was done to prevent Sasikala from visiting the memorial months before the April 6 assembly elections.

As AIADMK enters 50 years of existence, Sasikala will pay floral tributes at the memorials of Jayalalithaa, her friend for over three decades, and M G Ramachandran, the founder of the party. MGR founded AIADMK in 1972 after he was thrown out of the DMK then led by M Karunanidhi.

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The visit by Sasikala, who has been keeping a low profile after it became increasingly clear that the AIADMK is not too on taking her back, assumes significance in political circles. The visit also comes four days after the results of the elections to rural local bodies in nine districts are announced – the AIADMK hopes to make up for the loss in the assembly elections, but political pundits say the DMK has a clear edge.

Ahead of the visit, Sasikala has appealed to the AIADMK cadres to unite to strive hard to install “Amma’s (Jayalalithaa’s) government.

“One who loves Amma or MGR dearly will not leave the party. I have been seeing the anguish of the party cadres. None can remain silent watching this. What happened to AIADMK after MGR’s demise has happened once I have to come back to the party and guide everyone. We must strive hard to bring back Amma’s government. This is my wish and desire,” she said.

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