Sasikala returns to Tamil Nadu after 4 years; AIADMK jittery

Krishnagiri: Expelled AIADMK leader V K Sasikala on Monday returned to Tamil Nadu to a grand reception, days after completing her four-year jail term in Bengaluru in a corruption case, amid indications of a confrontation with the ruling party which she once controlled.

Sasikala, a close aide of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, crossed into Tamil Nadu at Athipalli in Krishnagiri district bordering Karnataka, around 10 am as her supporters broke into celebrations, dancing to drum beats and showering flower petals on her convoy.

Her nephew T T V Dhinakaran, who accompanied her, said she would visit the residence of AIADMK founder and late Chief Minister M G Ramachandran in Chennai later.

He claimed several functionaries of the ruling AIADMK turned up to welcome Sasikala and that she was travelling in the vehicle of one of the ruling party functionaries after her car developed some issue.

The AIAMDK reiterated that Sasikala and those with her had nothing to do with the party and that it was illegal on their part to use the party flag as she travelled in a car sporting it, for the second time in the last two weeks.