CHENNAI: Expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala on Sunday alleged that "some current AIADMK leaders" were engaging in caste-based politics, adding that it would not be tolerated by the party.
Speaking to the media at her new Poes Garden residence after a closed-door meeting with her supporters, the former interim general secretary of the AIADMK said, "For the first time, I am hearing about caste-based politics within the AIADMK. No one in the AIADMK will tolerate such behaviour." Sunday's meeting follows Sasikala’s call for a united AIADMK to regain its lost glory in Tamil Nadu politics.
She added that party icons like Jayalalithaa and MGR had never supported caste divisions. "If Jayalalithaa considered caste, she would not have associated with me. In the AIADMK, even an ordinary party worker can attain a leadership position. If the party was one that had engaged in caste politics, then why would Edappadi K Palaniswami have been appointed as the Chief Minister when I went to Bengaluru?" asked Sasikala. The leader had gone to prison in 2017 to serve her sentence in a disproportionate assets case.
Alleging that the AIADMK was facing a streak of failure due to the "selfishness of a few people", Sasikala said, "We built the AIADMK as the third largest party in India. But it is now having a downfall."
She added that she was getting involved in the party again and warned people to not think that the AIADMK has come to an end.
Going on to express confidence about a change in fortunes, Sasikala said that the AIADMK would form government in the state with an absolute majority in the 2026 assembly polls, echoing the party's general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami's hope for the same.
After the AIADMK’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, Sasikala, a former close aide of former late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, had recently observed that failure to course correct would cause harm to the party. It may be recalled that AIADMK fell behind the BJP and NTK in a few constituencies in the recently concluded parliamentary elections.