Sasikala holds court at Poes Garden

For the third time in as many days, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and his senior ministers visited Veda Nilayam in Chennai’s upmarket Poes Garden to hold discussions with Sasikala Natarajan who holds no office in the government or the party.Veda Nilayam, where Sasikala now stays, was the residence of the late J Jayalalithaa, who besides being the chief minister, was also the general secretary of the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam. A post she held with such command that she was called 'Niranthara Podhu Cheyalalar’ (permanent general secretary).Friday’s visit by Panneerselvam and his Cabinet colleagues — P Thambidurai, Edappadi K Palaniswami, SP Velumani — comes at a time when the party is all set to elect its new general secretary, though, one of the ministers, who talked to CNN-News18, described it as a mere “courtesy call”.Though speculation is rife that Sasikala will be elected AIADMK's new general secretary, the minister said it is not yet finalised as there are others along with her in the list.The succession plan in the party will not be as smooth as that in the government. While Panneerselvam was sworn in within hours of Jayalalithaa’s death, sources said the process of finding a successor in the party is caught in a caste wrangle — between the dominant Thevars, the caste to which Sasikala belongs, and the Goundars, who are strong in the western belt of the state.Independent journalist Sandhya Ravishankar said, "Äs far as the government is concerned, a succession plan is already in place. But what is crucial for the party is to elect the general secretary and a candidate for the RK Nagar constituency. The word within the AIADMK circles is that whoever gets the RK Nagar seat is likely to stake claim to the CM’s post. Sources within the AIADMK say Sasikala is keen on being elected as the general secretary, which is probably what the lobbying is about within the AIADMK."According to political analyst RK Radhakrishan, these are “early days”. "We need clarity of thought and the entire organisation should be seen as a monolith, speaking in one voice. The fact that AIADMK ministers are tightly controlled by the central leadership has to be reinforced. Sasikala will remain the person behind the party for as long as possible. She will possibly encourage party men at some point to highlight her contributions to the party. Her taking charge of the party officially will depend on the reaction of the people as she tests the waters."The AIADMK cadre, however, are an angry lot. Some of them have many questions on the recent developments in the state. “What locus standi does Sasikala have to stay at Poes Garden along with her family members? The ministers are meeting Sasikala at Poes Garden. This is an extra-constitutional authority," a party worker said.Some have even questioned the security cover given to Sasikala when she visited the house of Cho Ramaswamy to pay her last respects to the actor-turned-journalist.Sasikala, called Chinnamma, was running a video cassette shop when she befriended Jayalalithaa in early 1980s. She has been a shadow of the AIADMK leader ever since but never held any official post within the party or the state government. In 2011, Jayalalithaa expelled Sasikala from Poes Garden, but the two reunited months later when Sasikala distanced herself from her family to prove loyalty towards Jayalalithaa.Some party workers are also incensed by the swift return of Sasikala's husband Natarajan, who had been banished by Jayalalithaa.Political Analyst N Ram said, "It will be a huge problem if Sasikala takes over the party because she has no background or credentials in politics, although she was with Jayalalithaa all along and supported her. I think that is the plus point: people see her as loyal to Jayalalithaa but they don't like the way she allowed family members to abuse their proximity to power if not access to power. At Rajaji Hall, we saw the whole lot taking centre stage, including Natarajan. This won't go down well with the party. There is hard play in this period. Given the caste configuration, it is going to be an issue with the party cadre.”On Thursday, posters could be seen outside the AIADMK headquarters saying Sasikala Natarajan will lead the party. The posters were removed the next day.