Expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Sasikala Pushpa on Friday moved the Madras High Court urging the judiciary to restrain the general council of the party from selecting Sasikala Natarajan as the party’s general secretary. Sasikala Pushpa’s counsel KM Vijayan said the party bylaws do not allow Sasikala Natarajan to be elected to the post. Vijayan also asked the court to make the election commission a respondent in the case, reported The Times of India.
Sasikala Pushpa added that the nomination would be a mistake as Sasikala Natarajan had in 2011 been expelled from the party for conspiring against former Tamil Nadu Chief minister J Jayalalithaa, reported ANI. “Nowhere has madam [Jayalalithaa] mentioned her name. She has not even given her a councillor or an MLA seat. It shows that political life is not fit for her [Sasikala Natarajan],” Sasikala Pushpa told ANI.
She also demanded a judicial inquiry into Jayalalithaa’s death. “Since the time she was admitted to hospital, there was no transparency about her health. What happened to Jayalalithaa is something everybody is questioning. Even the cadres feel the same,” she added.
Moreover, the AIADMK on Friday dismissed the Opposition’s demand for a “white paper” on Jayalalithaa’s medical treatment. Party spokesperson C Ponnaiyan accused the Opposition of playing politics on the matter. “Doctors monitored Amma [Jayalalithaa]. Specialists from Apollo Hospitals [where she was admitted], AIIMS doctors, Dr Richard Beale from London and those from Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore worked as a team,” he said.
On Thursday, Ponnaiyan had said that Sasikala Natarajan, who had been Jayalalithaa’s close aide, will be the new party chief. However, the general council is yet to announce a date for the meeting. Several AIADMK officials have been in favour of Sasikala Natarajan taking charge of the party, though she does not hold an official post at the moment.
On August 1, Sasikala Pushpa was expelled from the AIADMK after she was involved in a scuffle with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Siva and also for indulging in “anti-party activities”.
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