20.12.11

AIADMK rumblings



Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on Monday expelled her close associate, Sasikalaa Natarajan, and 13 others, mostly Sasikalaa’s relatives, from the party’s primary membership. Long regarded as an important member of the CM’s household, Sasikalaa also left Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden bungalow with her brood. A terse AIADMK press release said Sasikalaa and 11 of her family members “are expelled from the primary membership of the party and relieved of their posts with immediate effect” without giving any reason for their expulsion. Sasikalaa’s banishment comes in the wake of a series of resignations and sackings of key officials, apparently appointed at Sasikalaa’s behest. This is the second time in their long association that Jaya has distanced herself from Sasikalaa. In May 1996, soon after her party’s disastrous assembly elections, she announced her estrangement with Sasikalaa, saying she was snapping ties out of respect for the sentiments of the people and partymen.

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