CHENNAI: A fortnight after announcing the launch of her own political outfit, expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala on Friday ‘took over’ the decade-old All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AIPTMMK) that a former functionary had launched, and installed herself as its leader.
Speaking to the media, Sasikala clarified that she was joining the AIPTMMK, which was registered as a political party in 2016 by Madurai-based P Sakkaravarthy, and would take over as its chief. She said Sakkaravarthy was a follower of AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran and former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. The party had been allotted the “coconut grove” symbol.
Earlier, at a public meeting in Ramanathapuram on February 24, Sasikala had unveiled the party’s flag featuring black, white, and red colours, with images of DMK founder CN Annadurai and AIADMK leaders MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa in the middle.
On Friday, she said discussions would be held with like-minded political parties to form an alliance ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections.
When asked whether her party could defeat the AIADMK and the DMK, Sasikala did not respond directly and said the people were the masters and would decide.
Responding to another question on whether the separate political paths taken by her and O Panneerselvam would benefit Edappadi K Palaniswami, she said the results of the upcoming Assembly elections would provide the answer.
Following the death of Jayalalithaa in 2016, Sasikala was elected interim general secretary of the AIADMK by the party’s general council. Later, when she was about to be elected chief minister by the party’s MLAs, she was sentenced to four years in prison in a disproportionate assets case and lodged in the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru. Due to the conviction, she cannot contest elections till 2027.