VK Sasikala Looking To Make A Political Comeback; Hints At Efforts To Regain Control Of AIADMK: Report

Former AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala is apparently considering returning to her former party after having declared to have stepped aside from electoral politics ahead of the assembly polls in Tamil Nadu in April this year.

However, the 66-year-old is reported to have said that she could not see the party getting ruined due to the “infighting”, referring indirectly to the emerging rift between senior party leaders Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Paneerselvam.

Sasikala has reportedly made several calls to key leaders from her camp in the AIADMK as she consoled and assured them of her comeback to the opposition fold.

“We will for sure streamline the party…certainly, I will come,” Sasikala’s brief conversation with one of her loyalists was leaked and thus quoted in a report by the Indian Express.

Palaniswami and Paneerselvam, Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister in the previous government respectively, have been locking horns in recent times. They were engaged in a stiff tussle to claim the Leader of Opposition post in the assembly following DMK’s victory in the polls.

“Panneerselvam who had the support of 11 MLAs during the merger in 2017 is now left with just one MLA and an MP, his own son P Raveendranath Kumar. This is what helped Palaniswami consolidate his power in the party,” a former AIADMK minister was quoted in the report.

He added, “We have to wait and see if people supporting Palaniswami would join the Sasikala camp even if they do not trust the leadership of Panneerselvam.”

Sasikala was released from prison earlier this year after serving four-year sentence following her conviction in the disproportionate assets case in 2017.