Chennai: Sasikala Natarajan's ascent from the shadow of J Jayalalithaa to the post of legislative party leader of AIADMK is without precedence in the party's history.
Unlike former party chiefs such as M. G. Ramachandran or Jayalalithaa, she is the only AIADMK general secretary who was never a leader, or an orator. She had not successfully contested elections, or hit the campaign trail, or proved her mettle as a capable administrator. She was merely an aide to the leader.
In fact, most people in Tamil Nadu would not even recognize her voice.
Though she had been staying away from the party cadre and the masses, the clout she held in the administration is a well-known fact. Adding to the clout, she now has the backing of party leaders.
Still, she faces an uphill task of keeping the AIADMK flock together.
Sasikala had been running a video rental shop in Chennai in the 1980s before IAS officer V. S. Chandralekha introduced her to Jayalalithaa in 1982. She was assigned the video coverage of AIADMK meet at Cuddalore.
Later, Sasikala covered many events for Jayalalithaa, and soon shifted residence to Poes Garden. She shot into prominence in 1991, when Jayalalithaa became the chief minister for the first time.
Jayalalithaa later adopted Sasikala’s nephew V. N. Sudhakaran, and organized a big fat wedding for him in 1995. The wedding extravaganza triggered a controversy, and soon, Sasikala was blamed for the drubbing AIADMK had to face in the 1996 electoral battle.
Following the humiliating defeat, Jayalalithaa disowned her. But the estrangement did not last long. The story repeated in 2011, when Sasikala was again disowned.
Sasikala spoke out against her husband Natarajan when the latter fell out of favour with Jayalalithaa. Incidentally, his return to Poes Garden after Jaya’s death made headlines.
Sasikala was with Jayalalithaa through thick and thin. She was with the AIADMK leader when the latter was jailed in 1996 in the color television scam and again in 2014 in the disproportionate asset case. For Jayalalithaa, Sasikala was a sister; and for the party cadre, she is Chinnamma.
Several AIADMK ministers and leaders now admit that Sasikala used to interfere in the functioning of the government and party. So far, the journey to party's helm was smooth for Sasikala but the road ahead as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu need not be the same.
