Five reasons why you cannot write off Sasikala even after the SC verdict

NEW DELHI: The adverse verdict against VK Sasikala, who suddenly emerged as a heir to deceased AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's legacy, seems to end the political uncertainty in the state with the road now clear for O Panneerselvam to become the chief minister.

But a shrewd Sasikala cannot be written off entirely. Her sentence would end in just four years, and she can come back to haunt the party.

Below are the five reasons why the SC verdict may not be the end of Sasikala:

1. Given how smoothly she staged a putsch against Panneerselvam to replace him as Jayalalitha's political heir, Sasikala will continue to have friends within the party even if she is in jail and OPS is the chief minister.

2. Since OPS can never have Jayalalithaa's mass appeal and the kind of control she had over the party, rebels will keep rocking the AIADMK boat. Sasikala can become the rallying point for these rebels.

3. Sasikala will be out of jail in four years, which is a not a big gap in politics. Once out, she will do everything to split the party.

4. The SC verdict may not be all bad for Sasikala. If Panneerselvam were able to lure majority party MLAs, it would have proved that party had no faith in Sasikala. The masses too would have accepted that. But now the message that would go to the masses is—Sasikala has been stopped from heading the state by a court order but not due to lack of support in the party. So when she is back, she can still have popular support.

5. Sasikala has once proved to the people that she is Jayalalithaa's legitimate successor. After four years, when she is out of jail, the situation in the state might be very conducive for her power play. Panneerselvam will be facing rebellions as well as anti-incumbency. He cannot have the mass support Jayalalithaa had so the party's base will only erode from now on. All this will help Sasikala project herself as the next mass leader.