Hyderabad: VK Sasikala Natarajan’s decision to keep away from politics is regarded as insurance against the poor poll show of AIADMK, which she predicts. Some draw an analogy of how MGR's wife Janaki handed over the mantle to the former chief minister J Jayalalithaa after the poll debacle, though. It remains to be seen whether Sasikala’s prediction gets vindicated.
What is your binge-watch suggestion list this weekend? Might sound like a popup Ad on your OTT platform. Probably, this could have been the firsts of the icebreaking conversations which Sasikala could have had with Jayalalithaa. Sasikala’s bumpy political ride with Jayalalithaa which began there became a monologue following the latter’s demise. Her surprise Wednesday(March 3) announcement to keep away from politics reasoned it as a means to prevent the DMK from accruing to power and to put on a united show.
With power comes accountability
“They had been blaming her. Now her decision had absolved her of any accountability whether or not the AIADMK emerged victorious. They will be answerable for the party cadres. Traumatising the woman who chose to live with Jayalalithaa over her husband M Natarajan to quit politics will remain in the psyche of the AIADMK cadres,” said a source close to the family.
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Natarajan and his camp were asked to leave Poes Garden, the now memorial of Jayalalithaa, at one point in time. The wedding of Sasikala and Natarajan was presided over by former chief minister M Karunanidhi. It was Natarajan who introduced her to Jayalalithaa when Sasikala was into Video Cassette rental service.
While lieutenants of AIADMK coordinators Edappadi K Palanisamy(EPS) and O Panneerselvam (OPS) had been blaming Sasikala for everything wrong within the party, EPS will not have anyone to blame but himself if he were not able to pull the elections off.
Sasikala will be able to rally against the present top brass if the ruling dispensation which is fighting the anti-incumbency loses the battle.
Advantages
With this announcement, Sasikala has cleared decks for her nephew TTV Dhinakaran to ally with smaller parties, which are otherwise reluctant because of her association. It has also saved EPS from the embarrassment of having to truck with her or the AMMK, key demand of the BJP.
Dhinakaran, the RK Nagar MLA, had been reiterating that he was open to the alliance even with AIADMK if he captains it. While the vote share of Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam(AMMK) stood at 5.25 per cent in the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the vote share of AIADMK dipped to 18.78 per cent from 44.34 per cent which it garnered in the previous State Assembly Elections.
While the vote difference between the Principal Opposition DMK and the ruling AIADMK in the present Assembly is only 1 per cent, the rise of AMMK-like spoilers will only help the DMK.
Sasikala is not Janaki
Sasikala's decision is likened to that of Janaki wife former CM and AIADMK founder MGR who conceded her defeat to Jayalalithaa and quit politics. Following the demise of MGR, AIADMK broke into two factions. The AIADMK symbol was frozen and both factions went to the polls, while Jayalalithaa managed to win 23 seats and Janaki lost all seats. Sasikala on the other hand was running the AIADMK alongside Jayalalithaa as the latter's aide and the first lieutenant behind the screens.
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In fact, it is Sasikala, who installed EPS as the CM, when her conviction in the disproportionate assets case in which Jayalalithaa was her co-accused, was upheld by the Supreme Court. EPS famously asserted that it was the party legislators, not Sasikala who elected him as the Legislature Party Leader.
AMMK & AIADMK silent
Both camps maintain the decision of Sasikala, as a personal choice. AMMK spokesperson V Vetripandian says that they cannot comment on her decision but would focus their energy on the ensuing election. “Yesterday(March 3), we issued 1,200 party tickets. We might issue close to 10,000 tickets before the last day,” he said.
AIADMK spokesperson Adv RM Babu Murugavel refused to comment on the development citing that it would be improper when she had already decided to quit. “We are working on the candidate selection process. We are focusing our energy on winning the election,” he said.
