Chennai: The appearance of AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala when she came to the party headquarters bore close resemblance to that of her predecessor J. Jayalalithaa. Besides the mode of her clothes, her hair dressing too has changed to that of her late friend.
Besides collar neck blouse that extended below the elbow, her hair-do-the kondai-- was similar to what Jayalalithaa had sported. Sasikala's appearance was drastically different from how she appeared at the Rajaji hall when her friend's body was placed for homage.
Sasikala was till about a week ago wearing an ordinary blouse with half sleeves and her hair too was twined into a common plait or tugged together. The change in her appearance was noted by the cadres, especially women who attended the function on Saturday.
“The women members are really pleased with the change of appearance in Sasikala” said party spokesperson C.R. Saraswathi. “We are happy about the change. Amma used to advise us to present ourselves in a pleasant way during public appearances.
Chinnamma used to be very simple before. But, when she is presenting herself as a leader now, it is essential to change her appearance”.
But, there are varying opinions if the change will help Sasikala to attract the support of the AIADMK cadre and the public. Political commentators are of the opinion that more than appearances, the performance of a leader alone would help in securing people's support.
Political analyst, Badri Seshadri, said, “I don't think Sasikala's changing her appearance similar to Jayalalithaa would help her get people's backing. A leader gets popular only through her actions and performance”.
