R K Nagar bypoll: Sasikala goes missing from AIADMK Amma campaign

Read why her own nephew, who she made the party's deputy general secretary seems to have consciously kept Sasikala out of the campaign fray.

She was hailed as the next leader of the AIADMK after former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's demise but Sasikala Natarajan finds no mention in any campaign material of AIADMK Amma for the upcoming R K Nagar bypoll. Her own nephew, who she made the party's deputy general secretary is the candidate for the bypoll, but TTV Dinakaran seems to have consciously kept Sasikala out of the campaign fray.

Neither Sasikala's name or her photos have been used in any campaign material for the R K Nagar bypoll. Partymen who evoked Sasikala with honorary names like 'Chinnamma', do not take her name while speaking to the people of the constituency when in campaign mode. Posters, flags, banners only sport pictures of Jayalalithaa and M G Ramachandran, but 'Chinnamma' is missing in action.

Most political observers belive that it is a conscious effort by Dinakaran, considering the anger people of R K Nagar have about Sasikala post Jayalalithaa's death. Is the move to keep Sasikala's name away from the campaign to ensure the anger against her does not impact Dinakaran's chances at a victory or is this Dinakaran's way to asserting that he is the boss, the only one is the question. Some political observers believe that while the party may have consciously chosen to keep Sasikala away from campaign material, she will make a comeback after the elections irrespective of the results.

Dinakaran owns his reentry into AIADMK to his aunt Sasikala. On the day she decided to surrender before a court in Bengaluru after being convicted in a disproportionate assets case, Sasikala ensured that two of her proxies, Dinakaran and Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy were placed at the helm of affairs of the party and the government respectively.

AIADMK Amma's manifesto was released on Monday but there was no picture of Sasikala on it. Her photos were also deliberately left out of campaign posters, pamphlets, advertisements and social media posts. The strategy seems to be to convince the people that they should vote for 'Jayalalithaa's party, whether or not they despise Sasikala.

OneIndia News