SASIKALA QUITS POLITICS AHEAD OF TAMIL NADU POLLS

CHENNAI: Expelled AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala on Wednesday stated that she is quitting public life while asking the AIADMK cadre to stand united and ensure DMK is defeated in forthcoming Assembly elections. “I have never been after power or position even when Jaya (J Jayalalithaa) was alive. Won’t do that after she is dead. (I am) quitting politics but I pray that her party wins, and her legacy goes on,” Sasikala said. “I will step aside from politics and pray that Amma Government is established in Tamil Nadu,” she said in a statement, adding: “I pray for golden rule of Amma (Jayalalithaa).”

Sasikala’s statement comes ahead of Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, which will be held in a single-phase on 6 April 2021.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) said the AIADMK would decide on accommodating Sasikala in the ruling party-led alliance the state assembly polls. The AIADMK has so far ruled out accommodating her or her nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam in the party or in the alliance led by it.

Sasikala had stepped in as chief of the party after Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016 and was set to take her post when she was sentenced to a four-year jail term for corruption. Before leaving for jail, she handpicked EPS to take over as CM, but in her absence, he patched up with OPS—who had rebelled against Sasikala’s leadership—and the two removed her from the post and the party.