Chennai
The memorial for former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa would be inaugurated on the sands of the Marina beach in Chennai, on January 27. The event would coincide with the release of VK Sasikala, her close aide, from the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru.
The announcement on the inauguration of the memorial was made by the state government on a day when CM Edappadi K Palaniswami, also co-coordinator of AIADMK, made it clear in Delhi there was no possibility of readmitting Sasikala into the party fold.
On December 29, 2016, days after Jayalalithaa had died, Sasikala was appointed interim general secretary of the AIADMK, though till then she had not political role to play. Later in Feb 2017, then CM O Panneerselvam had resigned and proposed Sasikala as the leader of the AIADMK legislature party. Then, he rebelled against her claiming he was compelled to resign. Before Sasikala could assume charge as CM, she was convicted, and Palaniswami was elected to the post.
Months later, Palaniswami rebelled against her and joined hands with Panneerselvam. With the two factions merging, Sasikala’s appointment as interim general secretary was cancelled by the AIADMK general council in September 2017. Her party membership was not renewed thereafter.
