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Sasikala may choose Erode seat
After the pulsating moments over the swearing in ceremony of AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala, scheduled for February 7, that was cancelled late February 6 night, talks are doing the rounds that the Governor may advise her to wait till the Supreme Court delivers its verdict in the assets case. Strengthening this view is the meeting of the Governor with the legal luminaries reportedly in Delhi.
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Chennai
While the SC judgment is set to be the first hurdle for the AIADMK general secretary, the next big test will be winning the people’s mandate within six months from the date of assuming office as Chief Minister. Before going into various speculations regarding the constituency that she will be contesting from, two aspects that will be crucially watched are how much of the AIADMK votes will Sasikala secure as it will demonstrate the control that she has over the party and the strategy Mannargudi Madam adopts to overcome the anti-sentiment against her among the party sympathisers and the people.
At present, except for a few sidelined leaders, there seems to be no major rebellion for Sasikala in the party, which shows her ability and leadership skills to keep a group intact. “She has redressed the ‘grievances’ of the MLAs, functionaries and cadre. This is one of the important trait to have control over the party and Sasikala has proved it,” Jayagopi a second rung functionary said. The next question is winning the mandate of the people and for this she will have to choose the ‘safest’ constituency. Some functionaries rule out the possibility of RK Nagar as the constituency is in Chennai, a DMK fort.
“The foremost need now for her is to win a seat and become the CM. She can’t take even the slightest chance at this stage,” says S Ganesan, political observer. “With talk of prominent functionaries from Gounder community likely to get berths in the cabinet soon, Sasikala’s move hints that she is eyeing one of the segments in Western districts and in all likelihood, it may be somewhere in Erode which has a huge concentration of Gounders,” he added.
Though there is a possibility of Sasikala prefer some southern pockets like Usilampatti or in Theni region, given the massive number of her community votes, the OPS factor may erode her prospects. “Probably, yes. Right from MGR days, Thevars had been favouring AIADMK or a party that is alliance with Puratchi Thalaivar’s party.
However, now, there are murmurs in the community like why should not OPS be allowed to continue as CM and Sasikala lead the party. So, this division may reflect in the voting pattern too,” says Chandran, a lawyer of Madurai. “In such a situation, it is safe and strong for her choose only a traditional AIADMK seat. In this regard the top priority should be Erode and next can be Krishnagiri district.
The attempts to increase the strength of Gounder community in the ministry is a clear indication that she is planning to neutralise the impact of Gounder community-based parties in the region. Further, with a big team of functionaries from the Kongu region like Sengottaiyan, SP Velumani, Edapadi Palanisamy, Thoppu Venkatachalam, Senthil Balaji and so on, Sasikala is planning to turn the wave in her favour and she will pick either Gobi or Bhavani.
In fact, giving more responsibility to people like Sengottaiyan and Venkatachalam will really be an effective strategy as they have successfully outplayed the DMK heavyweights like K Muthusamy and NKKP Raja in Erode.
RK Nagar apt choice
D Velavan, a youth wing office-bearer of the party’s Alandur unit, while sounding confident about the victory of Sasikala in the elections, said, “If Chinnamma decides to contest in RK Nagar, she will win with a record margin.” His argument is that those holding posts in the party now and the others who want to secure key positions would strive hard to ensure Sasikala’s victory in a bid to earn her goodwill. So, the whole party would be in action on the field. “Moreover, contesting from RK Nagar would be the best choice because her victory in the constituency would prove that she has been accepted by the people too as the natural successor to J Jayalalithaa.”
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