Sasikala returns to TN after 4 years, says she will be involved in active politics

It was a day of high-profile political activity in Tamil Nadu as V.K. Sasikala, a close aide of late former chief minister Jayalalithaa, returned to Chennai with much fanfare from Bengaluru after completing her four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets case. Her cavalcade with AIADMK party flags fitted on each car, the huge rose garlands, high-decibel crackers and the massive crowd on her way have sent out a strong message that she is prepared for a political battle in the state.

Announcing that she will get into active politics, Sasikala urged the party to work together to defeat their “common rival”. She addressed a huge crowd of cadres at Nekkuthi tollgate close to Tamil Nadu’s Vaniyambadi town in Tirupathur district.

"The party has faced several struggles and risen like a phoenix in the past. My intention is that everyone must work in unity and not let the common enemy capture the throne,” she said, referring to the DMK. 

Quoting the lines of an MGR song, which always strikes chord with the AIADMK cadres, "Anbukku naan adimai, tamil panbukku nan adimai" (meaning I am a slave for love and a slave for Tamil culture), Sasikala said she was a slave to the affection of party cadre and people. She said she would talk about everything in detail later. 

Answering a question on the AIADMK-led Tamil Nadu government locking the beach-side memorial of Jayalalithaa, she said, "they are scared." 

The entire 12-hour journey from Bengaluru to Chennai, that may normally take not more than six hours, was a show of strength with a strong message as Sasikala said she would change the political course of Tamil Nadu which goes to polls in the next few months. 

Sasikala, of course, is not a political novice who would wait and watch. Known as Chinnamma, she was the driving force behind Jayalalithaa for over three decades. And Sasikala is further considered the  symbol of Thevar community in South Tamil Nadu, which has always been a strong AIADMK vote bank. Sasikala hails from the Kallar community, one of the three sub castes in the Thevar community.

Earlier, when she was stopped by the police and served a notice to remove the AIADMK flag on her car, she moved into the car of another AIADMK office bearer, Sampangi from Soolagiri near Krishnagiri. The car had the AIADMK flag on it. 

Later in the day at least seven office bearers including Sampangi, who went to welcome Sasikala, were expelled from the AIADMK.