Sasikala succeeds Jayalalithaa as General Secretary

The meeting, which began at 9 am with floral tributes to a photograph of the late Chief Minister’s chair, was attended by 2,770 party members. 

Chief Minister O Panneerselvam led the tribute in which other top functionaries and ministers participated. This was followed by speeches about Jay alalithaa and the need for VK Sasikala to take over the reins of the party by several ministers including Panneerselvam. 

Fourteen resolutions were passed at the meeting. The most important among them was the unanimous resolution calling on Sasikala to take over the party’s leadership to ensure that the legacy of MGR and Jayalalithaa continued. 

Recalling Jayalalithaa’s earlier announcement that Sasikala had filled the place of her mother in her life, the general council resolved under Rule 20 Section 2 of the party’s rules to nominate Sasikala as the AIADMK general secretary till she was duly elected to the post. 

The resolution was proposed, among others, by Panneerselvam and ministers Edapadi K Palanisamy, K C Veeramani, D Jayakumar, Sevoor Ramachandran, 

and Rajalakshmi, along with former minister KA Sengottayan and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambdurai. All party members seconded the proposal. 

Later, Panneerselvam, accompanied by PWD Minister Edapadi K Palanisamy and presidium chairman E Madhusoodhanan left for Poes Garden to inform Sasikala about the party’s decision, hand over a copy of the resolution and to entreat her to take up the post. 

Sources said Sasikala accepted the copy of the resolution with tears in her eyes and kept it for a moment in front of Jayalalithaa’s photograph in the portico before going through it and accepting it.