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Sasikala pays floral tributes to the late J Jayalalithaa on the former CM’s 73rd birth anniversary in Chennai. (PTI) Ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, expelled AIADMK leader V K Sasikala on Wednesday appeared to share her future plan of action with regards to the elections, saying the party workers should work together to retain power in the state.
Sasikala – a close aide of J Jayalalithaa – was making her first public appearance since her release from a Bengaluru jail on the occasion of the late AIADMK supremo’s 73rd birth anniversary.
Greeting her supporters at her Chennai residence after paying floral tributes to a portrait of Jayalalithaa, Sasikala did not mention the AIADMK by name – under the present leadership, the party has not only ousted her, but has refused to take her back,
She, however, called on all party workers to come together, win the elections and form the government. She said, “Our government should be there. I am sure that you will fulfil that dream. I am there to stand by you,” and recalled that Jayalalithaa had once talked of retaining the government “for another 100 years”.
Sasikala added that she “will be meeting the party cadres and people soon”.
She said she had a “strong conviction” that “Amma’s cadres cannot be purchased by anyone”, using a popular moniker for Jayalalithaa.
Sasikala further said that to retain power in Tamil Nadu, all “Amma’s followers” should work together “like bees” and take a vow towards the goal of forming the government again, adding that she could “see the face of Jayalalithaa” in each of the party workers.
After the event, actor R Sarathkumar, whose All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi party supports the AIADMK government, called on Sasikala. He said that there was nothing political about his visit, which he called a courtesy call as he and Sasikala had a long association when Jayalalithaa was alive.
Seeman, the leader of Naam Tamilar Katchi, another party that supports the state government, also called on Sasikala, followed by veteran film director Bharathi Raja and farmers’ union leader P R Pandian.