Ahead of TN poll, Sasikala signals truce with AIADMK

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 24

Expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala today appealed to "true followers" of late party supremo J Jayalalithaa to join hands in the coming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Her appeal, days after returning to Tamil Nadu after serving a four-year sentence in an assets case, appeared to be a signal for truce with the ruling AIADMK ahead of the polls.

After paying floral tributes to a portrait of Jayalalithaa here on her 73rd birth anniversary, Sasikala recalled the late leader's quote that even after her lifetime, the AIADMK would continue to work for the people for centuries to come.

Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi paid tributes to Jayalalithaa and senior ruling party leaders, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam garlanded her statue at the party headquarters.

Palaniswami and Panneerselvam slugged it out with Jayalalithaa's "non-biological" sister Sasikala over her legacy and the party.

The PM tweeted a photograph with "Amma" as she was popularly referred to as, saying: "She is widely admired for her pro-people policies and efforts to empower the downtrodden. She also made noteworthy efforts to empower our Nari Shakti."

The message comes as the politically dramatic state gears up for the Assembly elections, the first in the absence of two political giants — Jayalalithaa and late DMK supremo M Karunanidhi.

The BJP has an alliance with the AIADMK in the state. The PM will be visiting the state tomorrow to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development initiatives.

While the AIADMK has said Sasikala won't be taken back, the BJP appears divided over "Chinnamma". According to some BJP leaders, if the NDA wants to defeat rival DMK, then Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran should be brought on board.

(With inputs from PTI)



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