Sacked All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Sasikala Pushpa on Thursday said she will contest for the post of the party’s general secretary. She had moved the Madras High Court on December 16 urging the judiciary to restrain the AIADMK general council from selecting Sasikala Natarajan for the position.
“The decision to contest for the party’s post would be based on the high court verdict tomorrow,” she said. “I will contest [for the position] just like any primary member has the right to.” Pushpa claimed that around 75% of AIADMK workers were not happy with Natarajan’s elevation to the party’s top position. “Amma had thrown her away from the party for conspiracy,” she alleged.
The former MP also denied reports that she had been expelled from the party, saying she had never received any papers to that effect. “Even in the Rajya Sabha records, I still remain an AIADMK MP,” she said.
On December 15, AIADMK spokesperson Ponnaiyan had announced that Sasikala Natarajan, the late Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa’s close aide, will be the new party chief. “It is the desire of the entire party,” he had said. “Sasikala has functioned as the conscience of Amma [Jayalalithaa].” Jayalalithaa died on December 5 after suffering a cardiac arrest the previous day in Chennai’s Apollo Hospital.
Meanwhile, presiding chairman of the AIADMK, E Madhusudhanan, on Wednesday approached the high court, seeking to reject the petition filed by Pushpa and her husband. “The suit, in its entirety, is self-posing and tainted with ill-motive to achieve unwarranted political mileage,” he said. The high court bench adjourned the plea to December 23.
In her petition, Pushpa had also demanded a judicial inquiry into Jayalalithaa’s death. “What happened to Jayalalithaa is something everybody is questioning. Even the cadres feel the same,” she said.
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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