Sasikala floats new party, unveils party flag

Madurai: Announcing a new political party marking her return to active politics, expelled AIADMK leader V K Sasikala launched a scathing attack on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday, calling him a betrayer.

"I made him the CM. But he expelled me like throwing away a paper. Imagine what kind of a person would do that,'' Sasikala said without naming EPS at a public meeting in Kamuthi in Ranamathapuram district, organised to mark late chief minister J Jayalalithaa's 78th birth anniversary. "I don't want to utter his name. He is not worth it,'' she said. This was the first time Sasikala opened up in detail about incidents after Jayalalithaa's death.


Sasikala said, after she was jailed, her parole duration was reduced to five days when her husband died, due to pressure from the then AIADMK govt. There were also plans to arrest her when she was released from jail, Sasikala alleged. "People who were brought to power by me had stabbed me in the front and back,'' she said. Sasikala alleged that EPS was least bothered about the party and the cadres though AIADMK suffered defeat in 10 elections.

Recalling the events after Jayalalithaa's death, Sasikala said ministers urged her to become chief minister, but she declined as she was grieving, leading to O Panneerselvam's appointment. Later, AIADMK leaders complained against OPS, asking her to become the general secretary and eventually CM. But she was sentenced in the disproportionate assets case. "I think I made a good decision to stay in Bengaluru prison. If I had decided to shift to prison in Chennai, I don't know if I would be standing in front of you today," she said indirectly hinting at the threat to her life.

Sasaikala said she ensured the govt's survival by backing EPS as chief minister before going to prison, who then betrayed her. Sasikala said she was floating the new political party to `uproot enemies and traitors,' and ‘bring back the govt' of AIADMK icons MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa. She unveiled the flag of the party which had red, white and black horizontal strips with images of MGR and Jayalalithaa and C N Annadurai. The name of the party would be announced later, she said.

The announcement brought out the friction between her and nephew TTV Dhinakaran, the founder of AMMK. ``We will not be affected by new parties that spring up like instant idly and sambar,'' Dhinakaran told reporters.