On December 19, out of the blue, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha released a statement expelling her close aide Sasikala, her husband M Natarajan and 10 others from the party. Sasikala's nephew T T V Dinakaran and Jayalalitha's foster son V N Sudhakaran were among those shown the door. They were expelled from all party posts and that included the party's primary membership. The AIADMK chief also asked her party men not to have any truck with the expelled members.
It was not to be a long expulsion. In fact, it was not the first time the expulsion drama unfolded in the AIADMK. In 1996, after Jayalalitha was defeated in the assembly elections, she had expelled Sasikala and her entourage but they were back with the party soon.
The friendship between Jayalalitha and Sasikala is much spoken about in political circles; the duo has known each other for 25 years.
While the second expulsion came as a big shock to many, V Chandralekha, a former Indian Administrative Service officer and the Tamil Nadu state president of the Janata Party, who was instrumental in bringing both of them together, said she was not surprised at all. "I don't know why all of you are so excited about the expulsion. I don't know how many days it will last," she had said in an interview to rediff.com.
What she said turned true and in just three months, Sasikala is back at Poes Garden (Jayalalithaa's residence). It happened after Sasikala wrote a tearful letter admitting her mistake and asking for forgiveness in letting her friend down. In no time, she was pardoned and welcomed back. In fact, a car went from Poes Garden to pick up Sasikala, known as Chinnamma to the party people. Two days ago, the two friends even visited a temple.
But Jayalalitha was very clear in her letter to her party men that only Sasikala was welcome back and not any of her relatives. But will they remain away from the party and the government?
Political analyst Gnani Sankaran does not feel so. "With the return of Sasikala, once again, there is going to be a power centre outside the government, like it was earlier. Her return may not have any political repercussions but will have an impact on the government."
He also feels that all those who were part and parcel of Sasikala's gang also will start getting in slowly. "It will be back to square one. No doubt about it."
To the question why Jayalalitha fell for the letter written by Sasikala asking for forgiveness, Gnani says, "I was sure that sooner or later, Sasikala would be back at Poes Garden. After all, it is a friendship that has lasted more than two decades. More than anything else, the party needs a fund collector, a job that was taken care of by Sasikala. What we have to be critical about is the power centre that is going to start functioning outside the government."
