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Sasikala quits politics: The rise and fall of 'Chinnamma' of Tamil Nadu

Sasikala on Wednesday announced she is retiring from active politics. Releasing a statement, Sasikala said 'she will stay away from politics'.

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VK Sasikala, an ambitious woman from Tamil Nadu, once crazy about movies and film stars - her life's story itself is nothing short of a film script. Sasikala was often referred to as 'Chinnamma' (mother’s younger sister) while Jayalalithaa was 'Amma'. Undoubtedly, she was the soul sister of the late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa.

Sasikala on Wednesday announced she is retiring from active politics. Releasing a statement, Sasikala said 'she will stay away from politics', but would pray for the 'golden rule' of Amma.

So who exactly is Sasikala and how she came in contact with the powerful Indian politician J Jayalalithaa.

'When 'Chinnamma' met 'Amma'

Back in the 1980s, Sasikala met Jayalalithaa with a proposal of shooting a propaganda video of hers. After that, both met a few more times and the chord just struck. Then their meeting became frequent. During that time the founder of AIADMK and ten times Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MGR fell sick. 

During that time Jayalalithaa was the propaganda secretary of AIADMK. As soon as MGR died in 1987, many members of the party opposed to Jayalalithaa forced MGR's wife Janaki to take the reins of the party. Janaki entered politics and soon was elected the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

'Gangs of Mannargudi'

Humiliated by the public and party workers, Jayalalithaa was completely down and out. Sasikala entered the scenario - summoned her relatives and an entire gang of 40 people from Mannargudi to make sure no harm was done to Jayalalitha. By now she was always seen surrounded by Sasikala's men. She was projected as the victim of injustice.

Jayalalithaa started taking part in public campaigns and won the hearts of party men and common people. Jayalalithaa threw Janaki out of the post just 24 days later with a no-confidence vote.

'Sarkaar'

By 1989, Jayalalithaa became the sole leader of AIADMK and was the leader of the Opposition. She and her party won the elections in 1991 and became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time.

Jayalalithaa now heavily started depending on Sasikala and her gang and they even moved into Jayalalithaa's residence and were managing all the work from driver to cook to manager.

'Rajneeti'

Jayalalithaa did not give an ear to her genuine supporters who alerted her of the misappropriation of her assets by the so-called Sasikala and her Mannargudi gang.

The public criticism grew, and she lost the 1996 elections. However, AIADMK came back to power at the Centre as she supported Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government. But here too Sasikala started wielding power which was not appreciated by Centre leaders Pramod Mahajan and the likes. They started ignoring Sasikala.

She immediately arranged a tea party with the Congress leader Sonia Gandhi at Hotel Ashoka in Delhi in 1999. This meet was attended by Jayalalithaa, who without taking much time withdrew her support to the NDA government, which led to the Vajpayee-led government lose the no-confidence motion by one vote.

Jayalalithaa had started believing in Sasikala blindly. In fact, Sasikala started instructing her ministers on many issues. Jayalalithaa came back to power in 2003 but lost power in three years.

Their friendship was intact and the Mannargudi gang was planning to send Jayalalithaa to the jail in the disproportionate assets case in 2011 to elect Sasikala as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

'Conspiracy'

After receiving many warnings, Jayalalithaa also received news from an anonymous source that Sasikala was trying to poison her.

Following this, for the first time, Jayalalithaa went for a medical test without consulting Sasikala or her team and was shocked to find that she was being fed with sedatives and chemical substances of arsenic.

This was when the relationship between Sasikala and Jayalalithaa went sour. Jayalalithaa expelled Sasikala from the party and put her Mannargudi gang behind bars.

But surprisingly, Sasikala was taken back in her party in 2012, and they were friends again. Sasikala had distanced herself from all her family members by then.

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