Sasikala's return to Chennai postponed by a day, grand welcome in store for her

In a statement, Dhinakaran recalled the 'sufferings' of Sasikala over decades and appealed to everyone to welcome her on her return

The return of V K Sasikala, close confidante of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, to Tamil Nadu from Karnataka has been postponed by a day. The 66-year-old former AIADMK leader will leave Bengaluru at around 9 am on February 8 and reach Chennai by the evening.

“Chinamma (V K Sasikala) will leave Bengaluru on February 8 instead of February 7,” T T V Dhinakaran, Sasikala's nephew and General Secretary of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), said in a Twitter post.

Sasikala, who completed her four-year prison term in a disproportionate assets (DA) case on January 27, is under home quarantine in Bengaluru after she was infected with the novel Coronavirus. She was discharged from the Victoria Hospital on January 31 and was to return to Chennai on February 7. AMMK cadres have planned a grand welcome for Sasikala as she takes the road from Bengaluru to Chennai.

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Jayanthi Padamnabhan, a former MLA, has written a letter to government authorities seeking permission to use helicopters to throw flower petals on Sasikala during her journey. Sasikala, who stayed in Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden for decades together, is likely to make her niece's residence in Chennai's upscale T Nagar as her address for now.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Dhinakaran recalled “sufferings” of Sasikala for the past few decades and appealed to everyone to welcome her on her return from Bengaluru. “She (Sasikala) sacrificed her entire life to protect Amma (Jayalalithaa. She protected Jayalalithaa from her enemies through her loyalty,” Dhinakaran said in the statement.

Sasikala will travel to Chennai from Bengaluru on Sunday to a rousing welcome by her supporters at more than 40 “reception points” along the Bengaluru-Chennai National Highway. Her release from jail is already creating ripples in Tamil Nadu politics.

Sasikala, Jayalalithaa's shadow for decades, could not be sworn-in as Chief Minister in 2017 due to her conviction in the DA case. But she hand picked Edappadi K Palaniswami who later patched with O Panneerselvam and sacked Sasikala as interim general secretary of the AIADMK.