Day One: Sasikala meets functionaries of 8 districts from city and nearby areas

VK Sasikala’s address was highlighting various points, including celebrating AIADMK founder MGR’s birth centenary and late CM Jayalalithaa’s birthday on a grand scale, taking government schemes to the people through district and street level meetings and continuing the AIADMK tradition of being a disciplined party. 

Starting the first of six days’ meetings to interact with district, panchayat union, town and panchayat level party functionaries, she met representatives of 8 party districts in the forenoon session including North Chennai districts, South Chennai districts, Kanchipuram east, west and central districts and Tiruvallur east district. 

The afternoon was earmarked for members from Tiruvallur west, Vellore east and west districts and Tiruvannamalai north and south districts. However, what has raised suspicions that the meeting was more to get feedback to her idea of taking over from OPS as chief minister is based on the fact that most of the functionaries are General council members with whom she is directly interacting for the first time as GS. 

“With the party feeling that the rank and file were not fully with Chinnamma, the meeting is to emphasise to lower level functionaries the need to garner support for her” said a functionary who asked not to be named whereas functionaries who gave names only spoke glowingly of Sasikala. With lower level cadres evincing support for Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa, party insiders say that “Sasikala will try to take over the chief minister’s post from O Panneerselvam only when she is sure of support from all party workers as she has to win an election to continue in that post.”