Sasikala, the ‘Chinna Amma’ emerging as political heir to  Jayalalithaa

V.K.Sasikala, the only companion and confidante of the late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu till the end is slowly emerging as the new power center of the AIADMK party.

On Friday, for the second consecutive day, Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and his senior Cabinet colleagues met ‘Chinna Amma’ (younger mother) at ‘Veda Nilayam’ (the residence of Jayalalithaa) and held discussions with her for nearly three hours. Many ministers, bureaucrats and police officers too were seen in Poes Garden. One senior AIADMK leader had earlier said that Sasikala is the backbone of Poes Garden. One leader asserted that he saw “Amma in Chinna Amma.”

Sasikala also has the blessings of the centre and her emergence from behind the persona of Jayalalithaa to take the role of new ‘kingmaker’ is imminent.

A new advertisement issued under by a party loyalist is quoted as saying: “Yesterday MGR left Amma as an asset and today Amma has left Chinna Amma as an asset [for the party].” Another advertisement compared the friendship between Jayalalithaa and Ms. Sasikala to the friendship between the Mahabharatha characters Karna and Duryodhana.

“She protected Amma from her enemies for over three decades. When she was in jail none of her family members bothered to visit Amma. It was Chinna Amma who stood by her during turbulent times,” said another party worker to the media, defending Sasikala.