Throughout her long term as the party supremo, Jayalalithaa made sure there was no second-line of leadership in the party and that all decisions regarding the AIADMK would be taken by her and her alone. While OPS, M Thambidurai and V Maitreyan qualified as senior leaders of the party, it was clear they could never pose a challenge to her. Even Sasikala, who remained ensconced in Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence for decades as her close confidante, was never seen in public a lot concerning herself with taking key decisions.
In the event of Jayalalithaa’s death on December 5, all that changed with rumours even swirling that there could be a contest for the general secretary’s post. However, dismissing all gossip, the party in the hope of remaining united, has appealed to Sasikala to take control of the party that has four-and-a-half years left in power. While the unanimous clamour among workers in the party is that Jayalalithaa can never be replaced, they feel ‘chinnamma’ Sasikala is certainly fit to lead AIADMK as its chief. And the photographs released by the party Wednesday certainly attest to the same.
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(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:oneindia.com)
