In a massive political announcement only months ahead of the Tamil Nadu polls, expelled AIADMK leader Sasikala said on Tuesday that she is going to float a new party. She further said that the party will be driven by the principles of Jayalalithaa (popularly known as Amma).
“We will start a new party. It will be a party that will be led by the principles of Puratchi Thalaivi Amma, Puratchi Thalaivi MGR, and Anna,” she said. “If I remained silent like I have been the past nine years, then I wouldn’t do justice to Tamil Nadu people.”
Sasikala, however, did not mince words in taking a barb at her former party. She said that the AIADMK went to great lengths to have her arrested after her release from prison. “The party (AIADMK) has been going through a downfall. How long will they deny it? As far as EPS (AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami) is concerned, he hardly cares about the AIADMK cadres,” she told India Today.
Sasikala alleged that EPS is “selfish and only looks out for himself” and that after witnessing the political environment in Tamil Nadu for nine years, it was time for her to start afresh.
The announcement is a direct swipe at the EPS. She said that while the AIADMK has lost “over 10 times”, the current DMK-headed regime has only been looting people. “Tamil Nadu people have not forgotten the good AIADMK did in the time of Jayalalithaa,” she told India Today.
Sasikala is banned from contesting elections until 2027. She was arrested in a disproportionate assets case, in which Jayalalithaa was also named, and was released from jail after four years in 2021. Sasikala was made the general secretary of the AIADMK after the death of Jayalalithaa in December 2016.
Her latest political move came after Sasikala held a meeting with her supporters in Chennai.
(With inputs from ANI)
