As she paid floral tributes to the portrait of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo J Jayalalithaa on the occasion of her 73rd birth anniversary, the sacked AIADMK Chief VK Sasikala said, “We should all work together”.
On Wednesday, 24 February, Sasikala said, “Jayalalithaa’s loyal cadre should stand together and work towards winning the upcoming elections in Tamil Nadu.”
“I will stand with you all.”
“As our Amma (J Jayalalithaa) wished, our government (AIADMK) should be there even after 100 years. For that to happen, we should contest elections together (AIADMK and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam). I wish for the same. I will meet the cadre and people soon.”Late CM Jayalalithaa’s former aid VK Sasikala
Amid much fanfare, Sasikala had returned to Chennai on 8 February after serving a four-year term on charges of corruption at the Parappana Agrahara prison, Bengaluru. She was released on 27 January.
After a long silence, she, along with AMMK Secretary TTV Dhinakaran, met with mediapersons and supporters at her residence in T Nagar, Chennai.
“When I was affected by COVID, the people of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK cadre prayed for me and that is why I recovered. I thank you all for that,” Sasikala said.
The Many Moods of Jayalalithaa
Samathuva Makkal Katchi founder Sarathkumar, his wife and actor Radhika, Naam Tamilar Katchi chief coordinator Seema and Director Bharathiraja also visited Sasikala on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a photograph in memory of the AIADMK supremo.
While Sasikala explicitly talked of joining hands with the ruling party AIADMK, there has been no favourable response from the party.
On this special occasion of Jayalalithaa’s birth anniversary, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam filed nominations to contest in the upcoming Assembly elections from Edappadi and Bodinayakanur Assembly constituencies, respectively.
Palaniswami and other ministers later visited Jayalalithaa's memorial and paid tributes. The newly-inaugurated memorial has been out of bounds for the public due to “ongoing construction work". Incidentally, it was inaugurated on the day Sasikala was released from prison and was closed to the public, just ahead of her return to Chennai from Bengaluru.
The AIADMK leaders have asked their cadre to light lamps at 6 pm and take a vow in Jayalalithaa's name to protect people and guard the AIADMK till their last breath.
In a letter to the cadre, AIADMK leaders said, “Enemies and betrayers have joined hands to defeat the AIADMK.” They vowed to retain power for the second time in a row. They added, 'anti-people' forces must be taught a lesson by defeating them through hard-work, unity and allegiance to the party.
The AIADMK-BJP alliance is pitted against Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which has been out of power for almost ten years.
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