V. K. Sasikala

Vivekanandan Krishnaveni Sasikala (born 18 August 1954), also known by her married name Sasikala Natarajan, She was a close aide of J. Jayalalithaa, the late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who headed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) from 1989 until her death in 2016. After Jayalalithaa's death, the party's general council elected her as the secretary general of AIADMK. She is the aunt of T.T.V. Dhinakaran, general secretary of AMMK. She was arrested along with Jayalalithaa on 7 December 1996 and was remanded to judicial custody for 30 days in connection with the Colour TV scam.[1] During Jayalalithaa's three tenures as Chief Minister, Sasikala was alleged to have laundered huge amounts of wealth amassed by Jayalalithaa. On 14 February 2017, a two-bench Supreme Court jury pronounced her guilty and ordered her immediate arrest in a disproportionate-assets case, effectively ending her chief ministerial ambitions.

Sasikala Natarajan
V. K. Sasikala in 2016
President of the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam and President of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK
Assumed office
15 March 2018 (2018-03-15)
Preceded byPosition Established
Personal details
Born
Vivekanandan Krishnaveni Sasikala

(1954-08-18) 18 August 1954
Thiruthuraipoondi, Thiruvarur, Madras State
(present day Tamil Nadu), India
NationalityIndian
Political partyAmma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam
Other political
affiliations		All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (2016-2017)
Spouse(s)
M. Natarajan
​
​
(m. 1973; death 2018)​
Parents
  • Vivekanandan Saluvar
  • Krishnaveni
RelativesT. T. V. Dhinakaran
(Nephew)

Early life

Sasikala was born in a Tamil family from Chennai who later moved to Mannargudi.[2] [3] Her marriage to M. Natarajan was presided over by DMK leader M. Karunanidhi.[4] Her husband, was a public relations officer in the Government of Tamil Nadu, who worked closely with the District Collector of Cuddalore, V. S. Chandralekha, who in turn was very close to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran. This helped Sasikala in gaining the friendship of Jayalalithaa and shaped her further life.[5]

Career

Meeting with Jayalalithaa

In the early 1980s, through V. S. Chandralekha, who was then the District Collector of South Arcot, and a friend of M.Natarajan, Sasikala gained acquaintance with Jayalalithaa, who was then the Propaganda Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Since Sasikala helped in video coverage of party meetings and distribution of policies of AIADMK through CD's, Sasikala and Jayalalithaa gradually became very close.[6]

Temporary expulsion from AIADMK

On 19 December 2011, Jayalalithaa expelled Sasikala Natarajan and 13 others including Sasikala's husband M. Natarajan, T. T. V. Dhinakaran, their relatives, and Jayalalithaa's foster son V. N. Sudhakaran from the AIADMK.[7][8] This act of Jayalalithaa was considered a way to prove that she was not under the influence of Sasikala and her family. The matter was resolved by 31 March 2012, when Sasikala Natarajan was reinstated as a party member after issuing a written apology.[9]

General Secretary of AIADMK

In a meeting held on 29 December 2016 – the first meeting after Jayalalithaa's death on 5 December 2016 – the AIADMK general council appointed Sasikala as the party's general secretary.[10][11][12]

Chief Minister Elect of Tamil Nadu

On 5 February 2017, Sasikala was unanimously elected as the AIADMK Legislature Party Leader by a meeting of all the MLAs in the party.[13][14] Tamil Nadu Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao accepted the resignation of Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on 6 February 2017, and instructed him to continue to function as acting Chief Minister "until alternate arrangements are made". The Governor delayed announcing VK Sasikala as the new Chief Minister, waiting for the verdict of the disproportionate assets case on her. On February 14, 2017, VK Sasikala was convicted and sentenced to 4 years sentence in Bangalore Parapana Jail and gave her 24 hours to surrender. The governor, then rejected her claims to become Chief Minister. VK Sasikala then convened the party's MLA council in her capacity as the General Secretary. There, Mr. Edpappadi K. Palaniasamy was unanimously appointed as the new Chief Minister and he was sworn in the next day.[15]

Expulsion

On August 21, 2017, Sasikala was expelled from the AIADMK and removed from her post of General Secretary.[16][17]

Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam

The expulsion of Sasikala and her family led to the new party Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam. T. T. V. Dhinakaran was appointed as the general secretary and Sasikala became the president of Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam.[18]

Conviction
Main article: Disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa

On 14 February 2017, the Supreme Court of India found Sasikala and her co-accused — Ilavarasi (her sister-in-law) and V. N. Sudhakaran (her nephew) — guilty of conspiring, laundering and amassing illicit wealth worth about ₹66.44 crore (equivalent to ₹292 crore or US$41 million in 2019) in the 1990s in a criminal conspiracy with Jayalalithaa. The three were sentenced to a four-year jail term.[19] This restored in toto her earlier conviction in the case[20] delivered on 27 September 2014,[21] sentencing a four-year jail term to her and her relatives, in addition to imposing a fine of ₹10 crore (US$1.4 million) each.[22] The judgment stipulated that she and her accomplices would serve an additional 12 months in prison if they failed to pay the fine.[23]

The Supreme Court refused her plea to surrender after a fortnight and to be allowed to have food from home,[24] so Sasikala and Ilavarasi presented themselves for imprisonment on 15 February 2017.[25] She was released on 27 January 2021.

In media

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has announced that he is planning a film covering Sasikala's early life and the things she did to gain entry into Tamil Nadu politics.[26]

References
  1. Menon, Amarnath K.; G.C., Shekar (31 December 1998). "Booty queen". India Today. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  2. "How Sasikala and 'Mannargudi mafia' strengthened clout in Tamil Nadu power play".
  3. "The rise of Chinnamma". India Today. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  4. Akash Bisht (6 December 2016). "Importance of being Sasikala: Will Jayalalithaa's confidante be her heir?". CatchNews.
  5. Singh, Raj. "The complete story of Jayalalithaa and Sasikala Natarajan". indiatvnews.com. India TV News. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  6. Warrier, Shobha (12 July 1996). "The many homes of Sasikala Natarajan". Rediff.
  7. "Jaya expels close aide Sasikala, husband from AIADMK". IndianExpress. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  8. Warrier, Shobha (22 December 2011). "'I don't know for how many days Sasikala's expulsion will last'". Rediff.
  9. "Sasikala back at Poes Garden". The New Indian Express. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  10. "V.K. Sasikala appointed as AIADMK general secretary". The Hindu. 29 December 2016.
  11. "Spent 33 Years Looking After Amma: Sasikala's First Public Speech". The Quint. 31 December 2016.
  12. "VK Sasikala Asked To Explain Her Appointment As General Secretary In AIADMK". NDTV.com. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  13. Jesudasan, Dennis S. "Sasikala set to become Tamil Nadu Chief Minister". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  14. "Sasikala Natarajan appointed as Legislature Party Leader, set to become Chief Minister".
  15. "Governor accepts CMs resignation". Business Line. The Hindu.
  16. "Sasikala to be expelled from AIADMK, OPS settles for deputy CM". The News Minute. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  17. NARASIMHAN, T. E. (28 August 2017). "Ruling AIADMK expels Sasikala & Dhinakaran, plans to retrieve Jaya TV". Business Standard India.
  18. "Sasikala will be General Secretary, I will be Deputy General Secretary of AMMK, says TTV Dhinakaran,she was looted the general public fund". India Today.
  19. Ushinor, Majumdar. "What The SC Said About Jayalalithaa: She Was The Source Of Funds For Shell Companies". Outlook India. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  20. Rajagopal, Krishnadas. "Jayalalithaa, Sasikala criminally conspired at Poes Garden to launder ill-gotten wealth: SC". The Hindu. New Delhi. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  21. "Justice John D'Cunha: The no-nonsense judge who convicted Jayalalithaa". Firstpost. Bangalore. 29 September 2014. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  22. Prathima, Nandakumar (15 February 2017). "Justice D'Cunha: A no-nonsense judge who convicted Jayalalithaa, Sasikala in 2014". The Week. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  23. Pinaki Chandra Ghose; Amitava Roy (14 February 2017). "Crl.A.Nos.300–303 of 2017 etc. State of Karnataka Vs. Selvi J.Jayalalitha and Ors. (Judgment in Disproportionate Assets Case) [PDF] – 14-02-2017" (PDF). Supreme Court of India. p. 70. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  24. "Sasikala surrenders in Bengaluru, sent to jail". The Tribune. Chennai/Bengaluru. PTI. 15 February 2017. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  25. "V K Sasikala surrenders in Bengaluru court". Business Line. Chennai: The Hindu. PTI. 15 February 2017. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  26. "With VK Sasikala in jail, Ram Gopal Varma unveils the poster of his next film, Sashikala". FirstPost.
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