Fresh audio clips of ousted AIADMK interim general secretary V K Sasikala’s conversations with party cadres continue to make their way into social media almost every day, raising frenzied expectations about her “second innings” in politics.
Sasikala, who had on March 3 announced that she was “stepping aside” from politics before Tamil Nadu went to Assembly polls, has begun expressing her interest in taking the active political plunge by talking to her supporters over the phone in the past week.
Understandably, Sasikala’s outreach to cadres has caused disquiet within the AIADMK, which is still smarting under the defeat in the April 6 election after being in power for a decade. It is a fact that the majority of leaders who occupy top positions, including Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam, were hand-picked by Sasikala, a close aide of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
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While many leaders chose to keep their cards close to their chest after Sasikala’s telephonic conversations with cadres went viral, Palaniswami played down the development by merely saying that his former boss was not even a member of the party.
EPS, who was chosen by Sasikala as Chief Minister in February 2017, is now opposed to her entry and on the day he made light of the telephonic chats, one more audio clip went viral on social media in which Sasikala is heard telling a cadre that she will guide the AIADMK as Jayalalithaa did.
Sasikala’s phone conversations part of a larger plan
Sources in Sasikala’s camp told Deccan Herald that the former AIADMK leader will continue to talk to cadres over the phone as part of a “larger plan.”
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“While all this is just a trailer, the main picture will begin the day she visits Amma (Jayalalithaa) memorial on the Marina Beach. She will launch her political journey from Amma’s resting place, though the date is not known. But from the interactions we have with her, she is certainly committed to coming back to politics,” a close aide of Sasikala told DH.
The previous AIADMK government had closed the memorial immediately after its inauguration in January this year apparently to prevent Sasikala from visiting and making a political statement. However, the memorial was opened for the public after the polling was over on April 6.
The close aide said a “proper plan” has been prepared to facilitate her entry into politics to “reclaim” AIADMK, maintaining that Sasikala was only returning the favour to those who wrote letters to her, or tried getting in touch with her after she walked out of the Parapana Agrahara prison earlier this year.
‘Sasikala will not have support in AIADMK’
However, a senior AIADMK leader, who is part of the high-level Steering Committee, told DH that Sasikala’s telephonic conversation has not made any impact within the party.
“It has been a week since the audio clippings were leaked, but no leader with some standing in the AIADMK has come out in favour of Sasikala. If she has support in the party, her supporters should have come out in the open by now. I think she is trying to make her voice heard, and slowly she will withdraw herself from politics,” the leader said.
He also added that Sasikala was not even a member of the AIADMK and it would be impossible for her to take over the party.
Senior journalist R Bhagwan Singh said EPS’ position as “undisputed leader” now stands exposed with the party’s defeat. “When the chips are down, you get hit by everyone. If EPS had won the elections, there would have been no noise or audio from Sasikala. She (Sasikala) is testing the waters,” he told DH.
‘Many AIADMK functionaries in touch with Sasikala’
Another senior politician who is in the know claimed several district secretaries and newly elected legislators are also in touch with Sasikala’s camp.
“Many of these leaders reached out to her, immediately after the party’s drubbing in the elections. She (Sasikala) does not want to rush into things, and that is why she began by calling cadres. The next move is to call people with positions in the party who have touched base with her camp,” he told DH.
The leader said Sasikala’s camp is attempting to consolidate the Mukulathors, the case to which Sasikala and Panneerselvam belong. And here is where, sources in the camp said, Panneerselvam’s role will be crucial as he is already in touch with Sasikala's nephew T T V Dhinakaran.
Will OPS side with Sasikala?
Interestingly, the former deputy chief minister who is sulking more after his bid to be the Leader of Opposition was thwarted by EPS, has not yet reacted to Sasikala’s audio clips.
“He (OPS) might be the route through which the Sasikala family wants to get a toehold in the AIADMK given the fact that he is the Coordinator of the party. But things are not that easy even if OPS is on Sasikala’s side. Everything would boil down to the number of district secretaries and MLAs supporting each side,” the leader added.
As things stand today, the majority of the legislators seem to support EPS, but most of them owe their past positions to Sasikala.
“One should remember that the glue called power no longer exists with the AIADMK and Sasikala knows the party in and out as she controlled it from the sidelines for almost three decades. Coming weeks and months are interesting,” a political analyst said on the condition of anonymity.