CHENNAI: Amid speculation over her future political role, late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's close aide VK Sasikala is expected to announce her plans for the 2026 Assembly elections later this month.
Sources said she is considering fielding candidates in select constituencies, particularly in southern districts where she is believed to retain influence, in the Thevar belt, to demonstrate her political presence. Her supporters may be fielded under the banner of the Anna Dravidiar Kazhagam, a party launched in 2018 by her brother VK Divakaran.
Sasikala is said to have been holding a series of consultations with her supporters to decide the nature of her role in the forthcoming Assembly elections. She is also said to be planning a public meeting in the Kallakurichi district in the second week of February.
An announcement on her future course of action is likely on February 24, coinciding with Jayalalithaa’s birth anniversary. It may be recalled that TTV Dhinakaran earlier expelled several functionaries of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam after they met Sasikala.
Efforts Sasikala is taking for the upcoming Assembly elections are crucial, after she wielded considerable influence in the AIADMK and the entire State as the aide of party supremo J Jayalalithaa. Following Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016, Sasikala was appointed interim general secretary of the AIADMK. However, she was later removed from the post and expelled from the party after being convicted and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in the disproportionate assets case. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has since categorically ruled out the possibility of her reinduction into the party.
Sasikala has maintained that she has been making efforts to bring together the various factions that split from the AIADMK. In the run-up to the Assembly polls, she explored aligning with the AIADMK or joining the National Democratic Alliance. However, neither the BJP nor the AIADMK appeared inclined to engage with her, leaving her without political traction.