Jayalalithaa expels Sasikala Natarajan, 13 others from AIADMK

CHENNAI: In a dramatic action, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa today expelled her trusted powerful aide Sasikala Natarajan and 13 others from the party.

Sasikala's husband M Natarajan and Jayalalithaa's disowned foster son V N Sudhakaran were those sacked from the party by Jayalalithaa, who made the announcment in a terse statement, citing no reasons for her action.

This is the second time since 1996 that Jayalalithaa has distanced herself from Sasikala.

Jayalalithaa also directed her partymen not to have any link with the expelled members, most of them related to Sasikala.

Sasikala, also a former campaign manager of Jayalalithaa, was AIADMK executive member prior to her sacking. She is a co-accused in the disproportionate assets case involving Jayalalithaa.

In 1996, the two were arrested by the DMK government and Jayalalithaa had distanced herself from Sasikala, but both patched up later.

Sasikala, whose proximity to Jayalalithaa is well-known,had remained with the party supremo for long and was seen with her in public and private appearances. They have been friends since the early 1980s.

Sasikala owned a video parlour in Chennai while Natarajan had served in the state government.

Today's move sent ripples in political circles as Sasikala and some of her acquaintances were described as a "power centre" in the state, implying they enjoyed tremendous clout in government and the AIADMK, which returned to power with a thumping majority in May this year.

The expulsion of Sasikala and 13 others comes days ahead of the Dec 30 meeting of the party's General Council and Executive, the decision-making bodies.