A source in the BJP said they cannot deny that Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran can do damage to the alliance if they aggressively campaign against AIADMK.
The AIADMK-BJP partnership has seen many differences of opinion over the last few months. And in the run-up to the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, while the AIADMK has made it unambiguous that they will not entertain VK Sasikala to make a comeback into the party, senior leaders of the BJP tell TNM that they will not rule-out anything till Sasikala is released from the Parappana Agrahara prison which is expected to take place on January 27.
Speaking to TNM, a BJP leader who is closely monitoring the preparations for the elections in Tamil Nadu said that while they will not interfere in what decision AIADMK takes for their party, BJP will not take any concrete decisions now. “Our party had nothing to do with Sasikala, whether or not she wants to rejoin AIADMK is not for us to decide. But on whether she will have a tie-up with NDA, it is too early to comment,” said the leader.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday said that there was no chance of VK Sasikala, an aide of former CM Jayalalithaa, joining the AIADMK, after her release from a Bengaluru prison later this month.
Adding that nobody has spoken to Sasikala since January 2020, the leader said, “What if she is not even interested in being in politics after her release from jail? She has been in there for four years, we don’t know what her intentions are. She may want to rest and not be connected with the upcoming elections. So let us decide after she comes out”.
Another source in the BJP indicated to TNM that while the decision of the AIADMK leaders in this regard has more weightage, they cannot deny that Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran can do damage to the alliance if they aggressively campaign against AIADMK. The best case scenario would be if she chooses to not be active in politics as being associated with her will also lead to multiple complications.
Thuglak editor and RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy had suggested that the AIADMK should align with Sasikala, to defeat the DMK. Using an analogy about firefighting, Gurumurthy said, “If your house is on fire…whether it is Sasikala or anyone else, when you gather as a party, you can’t just wait for Ganga water, you have to accept all kinds of water.”
Just days before her release, VK Sasikala, aide of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, fell sick at the Parappana Agrahara prison and was shifted to the Bowring hospital in Bengaluru. The former AIADMK General Secretary complained of fever and breathing difficulties on Wednesday. She is scheduled to be released from prison on January 27 after serving her four year sentence in the disproportionate assets case.
Source: The News Minute