Portrait Politics: Citing Jaya’s schemes for women, Sellur Raju defends decision

Raju observed that the name of Jayalalithaa would be cleared in the present case. “The case is pending. We expect our late leader’s innocence will be proved through it,” he said. He was cautious enough not to mention ‘it’ as disproportionate assets (DA) case in which Jayalalithaa was a co-accused while her aide VK Sasikala and her relatives were convicted. It is pertinent to note that the petition filed by all three convicts seeking to review the judgment in the DA case was junked by the Supreme Court in August. 

Raju also noted that as many as 13 cases were slapped on Jayalalithaa with ulterior motives on the behest of the DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and that her name would be cleared like in other cases. He chided the Opposition of bringing disrepute to the deceased woman out of political vendetta. 

Raju, while reeling out the achievements of ex-CM, observed that she was the one who realised the women empowerment dreams of Thanthai Periyar, CN Annadurai, Bharati and Bharathidasan. “It is Jaya who made their writings on several aspects a reality,” he said. 

“It is during her regime that the reservation for women in the local bodies had been enhanced to 50 per cent,” he added. The measures such as ‘cradle baby scheme,’ he quoted, to have effectively brought down the female infanticide in the state. The Minister also claimed that the setting up of All Women Police Station for exclusively handling women issues in the state was emulated by even Pakistan.