Sister act two

Owner of a wide range of epithets like “close associate”, “beloved sister”, “shadow” and of late, ‘Chinnamma’, Vivekanandam Krishnaveni Sasikala, the subaltern homemaker from nondescript Thiruthuraipoondi in Thiruvarur, has added two more adjectives to her credit, political successor of Jayalalithaa Jayaraman, and soon, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

She secured her spot in TN history at around 3 pm on Sunday when Chief Minister O Panneerselvam emerged out of the AIADMK headquarters on Lloyds Road and announced that Sasikala had been elected legislature party leader. 

The most criticised and trolled ‘politician’, an avtar she had donned after her ‘sister’ Jayalalithaa’s demise on December 5, Sasikala rose to the ultimate seat of power, as much due to her platonic friendship with Jayalalithaa as the carefully planned moves of her immediate and extended family.

That said, the meteoric rise did not come off that easily. She has had her share of trials and tribulations during the last three decades. What the popular epithets fail to mention is the life of a woman who was accused of almost everything that was wrong, if any, about former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. From spending 10 months in prison after the controversy-ridden maiden tenure (1991-96) of Jayalalithaa, to even suffering a ‘matrimonial separation’, the onetime video lending library owner had endured so much that Jayalalithaa had once gratefully described her ‘sacrifice’ as second only to her mother’s, perhaps not knowing till mid- 2016 that the ultimate reward would be served to her on a platter on a Sunday afternoon. Not to mention, she had even accompanied late Jayalalithaa to Parapana Agraharam prison in Bengaluru in the DA case, which, many believe, could be the Damocles sword hanging above the to- be- CM. 

Those questioning her political acumen should also not overlook the fact that she had won the late Amma’s confidence in the early days only by demonstrating her organisational skills, when Jayalalithaaa, the then AIADMK propaganda secretary, was testing the political waters. Her unflinching loyalty won Jayalalithaa’s heart a decade later when an incarcerated Sasikala refused to drop her beloved akka’s name during the 19962001 tenure. It was the aide-turned AIADMK general secretary who had been calling the shots in the regime, including IPS and IAS officer’s postings, and in the recent years, even finalising electoral alliances and seat numbers. 

The unquestionable AIADMK general secretary, however, may have a few hurdles to clear. Stepping in to the shoes of a leader eulogised as iron lady, she might have to do more than serving marching orders to Jayalalithaa’s confidantes in the bureaucracy. Equally significant would be how she wriggles out of the court cases. Most importantly, Sasikala ought to reinvent her political image and public acceptability, something she now seriously lacks, and which even forced her to delay her anointment thus far.