Will begin my political journey soon: Sasikala

Notwithstanding the AIADMK leadership continuing to ignore her, the party’s ousted interim general secretary V K Sasikala on Tuesday said her political journey will begin soon. As a prelude to her political plunge, Sasikala will hold an iftar at Nagore, a town very popular for its Dargah Shareef, on Wednesday.

Sasikala, who “stepped aside” from politics before the 2021 Assembly elections but announced her return after the AIADMK’s defeat last year, has been on a pilgrimage spree for the past one year. In the third leg of her “spiritual tour” now, Sasikala said she will take an active political plunge very soon.

“I will begin my political journey soon. Wait and watch,” Sasikala replied when asked whether her political plunge will be alone or with “alliance parties.” The long-time friend of late J Jayalalithaa also said she will appeal against the order of a lower court that dismissed her petition challenging her being ousted as interim general secretary of the AIADMK in 2017.

Sasikala, who vowed to “reclaim” the AIADMK from the current leadership of O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami following the party’s defeat in the April 6 assembly elections, is yet to make any headway in her efforts in taking over the leadership with no visible swell in her support base.

While Palaniswami has been opposed to her re-induction for long, Panneerselvam too joined the bandwagon last month. However, Sasikala is not ready to hand her boots, sources said, pointing to her moves. The iftar, they said, is a calculated move to send a message to minorities that she will stand by them just like Jayalalithaa, in contrary to the AIADMK’s ties with the BJP.

Sasikala’s Tuesday statement is an indication that she will continue to be in politics. During her previous spiritual tours, Sasikala had met party cadres, who were later suspended by the AIADMK.

Palaniswami, hand-picked by Sasikala as Chief Minister in 2017 before she went to serve her four-year term in a disproportionate assets (DA) case, stonewalled BJP's proposal to induct her into the party or alliance, maintaining that the “core vote bank” of the AIADMK stays with the party and not the splinter group.

Palaniswami, considered a political lightweight then, consolidated his position within the AIADMK by side lining all his potential challengers, notably his one-time boss O Panneerselvam, who is now playing the second fiddle to him.

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