AIADMK Theni district committee passes resolution to bring Sasikala back

Chennai, March 3: The Theni district committee of the AIADMK has unanimously passed a resolution at a meeting to bring former interim general secretary of the party V.K. Sasikala back to the party fold.

The meeting also wanted her nephew T.T.V Dhinakaran and his party Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) back.

Held at the farmhouse of AIADMK chief coordinator and former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Wednesday, the meeting was presided over by the Theni district secretary of the party Syed Khan.

Sources in the party, who attended the meeting, told IANS that when the district committee leaders spoke about reinducting the two, Panneerselvam asked them to pass a resolution on the same, so that it could be taken forward to the party high command.

IANS had earlier reported that the powerful Thevar community to which both Sasikala and Panneerselvam belong, had been putting pressure on the AIADMK leadership to bring Sasikala back to the party fold.

With a sizeable vote bank in Southern Tamil Nadu, the Thevar community has always been a strong base of the AIADMK. In the recent Urban local body polls, AIADMK had lost heavily in the Southern belt with the party candidates even losing in the home ward of Panneerselvam.

Party Theni district secretary Syed Khan, while speaking to IANS, said: "The AIADMK is a political party which always fights for the people and we want to take the legacy of late leaders M.G.R. and J. Jayalalithaa back to the party and to move forward. As part of this process, we want everyone who has gone out of the party to return. The electoral debacle has several other factors but the reunion of these leaders will give the party the much-needed support base and fillip."

The passing of the resolution to induct back Sasikala in the presence of party chief coordinator has raised eyebrows in the political circles of Tamil Nadu.

Dr R. Padmanabhan, Director of Socio-Economic Development Foundation, a think tank based out of Madurai while speaking to IANS said: "The writing on the wall is clear and Sasikala will soon be back in the AIADMK fold and emerge very powerful. The AIADMK urgently needs a powerful leader and not a dual leadership and this will infuse adrenalin into the veins of cadres giving the party the much-needed fillip. The pressure exerted by the Thevar community is a major reason for this resolution and it is only a matter of time for her to be back into the day-to-day affairs of AIADMK."