Jayalalithaa’s close associate Sasikala is the pointperson even in jail

TNN

Chennai, Oct 11, 2014: With AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa’s imprisonment, party morale has hit rock bottom. There is uncertainty among the leadership and with Jayalalithaa remaining virtually incommunicado, it has been left to her close associate Sasikala to interact with senior advocates regarding legal issues and senior partymen on administrative matters, say sources.

 

While Sasikala’s role in the Poes Garden household and her clout within the administration and party have been topics of debate in political circles, sources confirm that ’chinna amma’ continues to be the pointperson for partymen and advocates even in jail. "Since she was lodged in the prison on September 27, Amma (Jayalalithaa) has not met anyone from outside. Several party seniors and some bureaucrats were keen to meet her, but she declined to meet anyone," said a senior AIADMK leader, camping in Bangalore and visiting the Parappana Agrahara prison almost every day. Prison authorities too confirmed that she did not meet any visitors. Prison rules allow convicts to meet up to six visitors in a day.

 

Sources said lawyers, including senior counsel B Kumar, met Sasikala before and after the Karnataka high court rejected their bail plea. A few party leaders, including Tamil Nadu highways minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, had been meeting Sasikala over the past few days to take instructions. A source confirmed that Sasikala was only passing on messages from Jayalalithaa.

 

 

"Ilavarasi’s son J Vivek and her sons-in-law Rajarajan and Karthikeyan have been taking care of the needs of Amma and others in prison. Ilavarasi’s two daughters are taking care of Amma’s Poes Garden residence now," the source said. Meanwhile, family members of Sasikala, including her brother V Divakaran, nephew T T V Dinakaran, and close relatives T V Mahadevan and Dr S Venkatesh, met Sasikala and Ilavarasi in prison. Sources said Sasikala’s husband M Natarajan too visited the Parappana Agrahara prison, but could not meet any of them.

 

"Family members met Sasikala and Ilavarasi to express their solidarity. We feel this is the occasion to stand by them. We don’t have any political interest," a family member told TOI. All of them were expelled from AIADMK in December 2011 along with Sasikala. However, in March 2012, Jayalalithaa revoked the disciplinary action against Sasikala and permitted her to return home, But, her relatives remained expelled from the AIADMK.