New Delhi/Chennai: Two days after she slapped DMK MP Tiruchi Siva at the Delhi airport, Sasikala Pushpa told the Rajya Sabha on Monday that she was slapped by “a leader” and she needed protection as her life was under threat.
Also, she faced intense pressure for the last two months from the AIADMK leadership to resign from the Rajya Sabha but she would not yield, she declared amid sobbing and high drama even as her party MPs vociferously objected saying she should not be allowed to make charges against someone who would not able to defend in the House.
Shortly afterwards, AIADMK headquarters in Chennai mailed to all the media houses the statement from party supremo J. Jayalalithaa expelling Sasikala Pushpa from all party posts and even the primary membership as she had violated party discipline and her actions brought ‘disrepute’ to the AIADMK.
Speaking to reporters later, the controversial MP said she would “remain an Independent member and continue to serve the people”.
“Why should I resign? What mistake have I done? Personal is different, politics is different”, she declared at a press conference she convened at her MP’s residence in the evening. She was obviously alluding to the media suggestions that the AIADMK leadership was upset with her after she slapped Siva in the airport.
Congress to Sasikala’s aid
Images showing Sasikala Pushpa in close proximity with Siva had circulated on social media on May 19, the day the state election results were announced.
Neither commented on those images subsequently and the issue of their relationship flared up only when the slapping incident happened at the Delhi airport on Saturday.
Within minutes of the Rajya Sabha convening in the morning, Sasikala Pushpa rushed into the Well seeking the Chair’s permission to make a statement. Alleging that “a leader” had slapped her during her visit to Chennai on Sunday, she asked, “If an MP is being slapped by a leader, where is human dignity?”
Even as her party colleagues protested angrily, she found support from the Congress with Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, saying she should be allowed to speak since she was a member of the House. Later, during a press conference she thanked Sonia and Rahul Gandhi for support from the Congress.
