During Jaya's illness, her close aide took all the important decisions
Chennai, Dec 7 (DHNS): Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala Natarajan is likely to succeed her as the next general secretary of AIADMK. Sasikala is tipped to play a big role in the coming years. An AIADMK source said that while Jayalalithaa was undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals here, Sasikala not only managed the affairs related to the Chief Minister’s Office with help from former chief secretary Sheela Balakrishnan, but also took important decisions related to the party.
Sasikala has never held a post in the government or the party, but that has not stopped her from selecting candidates for the Assembly and parliamentary polls. Though O Panneerselvam, a Jayalalithaa loyalist, was sworn in as chief minister, it is going to be a Sasikala show within the AIADMK.
Political analysts, however, say it will not be easy for Sasikala to take full control of the party immediately as she is currently facing cases related to amassing assets disproportionate to her known sources of income.
Sasikala met Jayalalithaa – then an emerging leader – in 1980 through her husband Natarajan, an officer in the public relations department of the state government. Natarajan took the help of Chandralekha, an IAS officer.
From then on, Sasikala, who was running a video recording business, took up the additional assignment of recording marriages attended by Jayalalithaa. Soon, she became a permanent presence in Jayalalithaa’s life and her home – Poes Garden. In 1995, Jayalalithaa was criticised for the extravagant wedding of Sasikala’s nephew, adopted by the former chief minister as her foster son.
Jayalalithaa snapped ties with Sasikala in 2012 and sacked several people linked to her from the party. But Sasikala returned to Poes Garden barely three months after she promised to stay away from her family. On Tuesday, as Sasikala and her family flanked Jayalalithaa’s body at Rajaji Hall, it was anyone’s guess which way the pendulum has swung.