AIADMK will not tolerate caste-based politics, says Sasikala

CHENNAI: Expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala on Sunday alleged that "some current AIADMK leaders" were engaging in caste-based politics, adding that it would not be tolerated by the party.

Speaking to the media at her new Poes Garden residence after a closed-door meeting with her supporters, the former interim general secretary of the AIADMK said, "For the first time, I am hearing about caste-based politics within the AIADMK. No one in the AIADMK will tolerate such behaviour." Sunday's meeting follows Sasikala’s call for a united AIADMK to regain its lost glory in Tamil Nadu politics.

She added that party icons like Jayalalithaa and MGR had never supported caste divisions. "If Jayalalithaa considered caste, she would not have associated with me. In the AIADMK, even an ordinary party worker can attain a leadership position. If the party had engaged in caste politics, then why would Edappadi K Palaniswami have been appointed as the Chief Minister when I went to Bengaluru?" asked Sasikala, a prominent face of the Mukkulathor community in the AIADMK. The leader had gone to prison in 2017 to serve her sentence in a disproportionate assets case.

Alleging that the AIADMK was facing a streak of failure due to the "selfishness of a few people", Sasikala said, "We built the AIADMK as the third largest party in India. But it is now having a downfall."

She added that she was getting involved in the party again and warned people to not think that the AIADMK had come to an end.

“My entry has started with the work of coordinating and bringing the AIADMK together. I will form the AIADMK government in 2026,” Sasikala said, adding that she would go on a state-wide campaign to garner support.

After the AIADMK’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, Sasikala, a former close aide of former late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, had recently observed that failure to course correct would cause harm to the party. It may be recalled that the AIADMK fell behind the BJP and the NTK in a few constituencies in the recently concluded parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, turning her attention towards the Kodanad heist-cum-murder case, she wondered why the DMK government was going slow in probing the case. “What is happening now and why there is so much delay in bringing the culprits to the book,” she asked.

She charged that the DMK government had failed to maintain law and order and said that they should prepare themselves to give “a fitting reply to my questions". As she was familiar with the functioning of the government machinery and administration, the ruling party could not evade her questions, Sasikala stated.

“If the Leader of the Opposition fails to act promptly, I will do it for the welfare of the people,” she further said.

(With inputs from Bureau)