VK Sasikala Natarajan was elected as AIADMK's Legislature Party Leader at a meeting of the party MLAs on Sunday. This move puts her one step away from taking over as chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
Here's an overview of 'Chinamma' as she is popularly known:
1. The 62-year-old had been a close aide of Jayalalithaa for three decades and was always seen as a power centre in AIADMK. She began taking care of party affairs after Jayalalithaa's death, although she never held any formal position in the AIADMK before.
2. Sasikala was the owner of a mobile video library in Chennai in the early 80s. She met Jayalithaa through her husband M Natarajan who was an assistant information officer in the secretariat presided over by MGR.
3. Sasikala was appointed as General Secretary by AIADMK's General Council on December 29, 2016, and took charge of the post on December 31, pledging to take forward the legacy of 'Amma'. She was technically not qualified for the post as it requires one to have completed five years as an active member of the party. However, she was elected to the post with the support of party members. She had never given speech in public until she took over as general secretary.
4. Sasikala likes to be called 'Chinnamma', meaning mother's younger sister, a reference to her connection to Jayalalithaa, who was popularly called 'Amma', meaning mother.
5. Her nephew Sudhakaran was adopted by Jayalalithaa. The late Tamil Nadu CM later disowned him.
6. Sasikala resides at Poes Garden in Jayalalithaa's home 'Veda Nilayam, which has been a power centre in the AIADMK.
7. She hails from a small town near Cauvery. Her family, which has wielded a lot of power and influence in this region of Tamil Nadu, is often referred to as the ‘Mannargudi mafia’
8. Sasikala was named in the disproportionate assets case slapped by the DMK government against Jayalalithaa and others in 1996. In 2014, she was convicted in the case along with the others by a special court, which sentenced them to four years of jail time and fined them Rs 100 crore. Jayalalithaa and Sasikala spent 21 days in jail, before being released on bail. The case is still ongoing.
9. Former AIADMK Rajya Sabha Sasikala Pushpa has filed a case against 'Chinamma' in the Madras High Court, saying it was wrong to nominate her as the party's general secretary since she was expelled by Jayalalithaa for conspiring against her and trying to kill her.
10. Sasikala was estranged from Jayalithaa in 1996 after AIADMK lost the elections. She later came back into the fold but was expelled from the party in 2011 along with her husband and 12 other relatives. No official explanation was given for this but AIADMK cadre celebrated her removal. She was brought back into the party in March 2012.
With agency inputs.
