Sasikalaa's stamp on changes in AIADMK list

Chennai: AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa's close associate Sasikalaa appears to be making her presence felt in the changes made to the list of AIADMK candidates for the assembly election. On Monday, the party chief made yet another change in her list, dropping eight candidates and replacing three with ministers, who had been left out in the original list of 227 released on April 4.
So far, Jayalalithaa has changed 21 candidates.Sources said several factors influenced the AIADMK leader's decision, including Sasikalaa's insistence that some of her supporters, sitting MLAs, be retained, besides intelligence inputs about candidates' image and credibility and petitions from cadres.
Jayalalithaa has chosen to bring back three ministers, who did not figure in the list, to take on heavy-weights of other parties. While higher education minister P Palaniappan has been fielded in Pappireddipatti in Dharmapuri district, where he had contested and won in 2011, minister for rural industries and milk P Mohan will contest in his home constituency of Sankarapuram in Cuddalore district. It was found that A S A Rajasekar, who was replaced by Mohan, was not so popular. Toruism minister S P Shanmughanathan will contest again from Srivaikuntam in Tuticroin district.
Party leaders whisper about a possible secret survey conducted by the party leadership to assess how voters had received their candidates. It was found that G S Kuppusamy, who was fielded earlier in Pappirediipatti had poor prospects. "The feedback Amma got was that Kuppusamy was sure to lose," said a party functionary on condition of anonymity. The "survey" apparently also indicated that Palaniappan would win if he was fielded.
Aiming to win the election again, Jayalalithaa has accorded priority to clean image of candidates as corruption is a key plank this assembly election. In Trichy East, she changed her candidate thrice. Vellamandi N Natarajan replaced R Tamilarasi. The decision to replace her kicked up a furore among her supporters, who picketed the entrance of the Rock Fort Temple when Natarajan and his men had gone to pray.
There were doubts about the credibility of the medical degree of Tamilarasi, who claimed to be an Ayurvedha practitioner, sources said. So Jayalalithaa swapped her with Trichy district secretary R Manoharan, who was fielded in Trichy West, giving the impression that she was considered strong enough to take on DMK's K N Nehru. But, Tamilarasi, the party's woman's wing secretary ended up losing her post of councilor of Trichy corporation as well. She had tendered her resignation from the post after announcement of her candidature.