Chennai: Rumblings and revolt within the AIADMK have begun with former Assembly Speaker P. H. Pandian and his son Manoj P Pandian on Tuesday openly questioning V K Sasikala's ascension to the party leadership and Chief Minister, alleging that late J. Jayalalithaa had “serious reservations” about Ms Sasikala's loyalty towards her.
Dropping a bombshell, Mr Pandian, who had very famously proclaimed that he had sky-high powers as Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly during late M. G. Ramachandran's tenure as Chief Minister in 1980s, alleged that he read media reports that late Jayalalithaa was “pushed down” and collapsed after a heated argument in her Poes Garden residence on September 22, the day she was rushed to Apollo Hospitals.
Addressing a press conference at their residence in plush Anna Nagar, the father-son duo, who have considerable clout among party cadres in Tirunelveli district, said when late Jayalalithaa did not even give her a “councilor's post” when she was alive, how can she claim to be Amma's political heir.
“We believe Amma (Jayalalithaa) was poisoned. It is the truth. AIADMK cadres have not accepted Sasikala as their leader. In fact, V. K. Sasikala is just the temporary general secretary of the AIADMK. Only 2,500 people who came to the general council (on December 29, 2016) appointed her,” Manoj, a former Rajya Sabha MP, said.
Mr Pandian also echoed his son's comments and said the AIADMK Constitution clearly says only cadres can elect the general secretary. Alleging “foul play” in Jayalalithaa's death, Mr Pandian demanded a detailed investigation into her hospitalisation and questioned the “tearing hurry” in which Ms Sasikala was trying to become the Chief Minister. “She (Sasikala) has acquired the properties of late Amma against her wishes. Amma had always wanted her properties to go to the people of Tamil Nadu. Poes Garden (residence of Jaya) belongs to the people of Tamil Nadu and Amma always wanted it to be like that. But what is happening now is completely against her wish,” Pandian said.
V. K. Sasikala, her family members and senior ministers “were neither sad nor did they shed a tear” when Apollo Hospitals chairman Prathap C. Reddy announced he has lost hope on saving J. Jayalalithaa late evening of December 5, Pandian added.
Manoj Pandian claimed on Tuesday that late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had told him and a group of leaders in 2012 that she feared of being poisoned and had “cut off” all relations with family members of V. K. Sasikala. “She told me that Sasikala is there in Poes Garden only because she needs someone to take care of her and help her. She did not want her to be her political heir. She feared that she might be poisoned,” Mr Manoj told reporters.
