Sasikala loyalist vs OPS: Dynasty politics gripped TN in a matter of hours

OPS recruited Amma's niece Deepa into his team, Sasikala gave her nephew Dinakaran key position

“Makkalaal Naan, Makkalukaagave Naan”

“I am by the people, I am always for the people”

Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa never missed making this statement in any of her public speeches. All through her political career, Jayalalithaa differentiated her All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam from her archrival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam by pointing to one crucial factor: the DMK was a dynastic party dominated by its president M Karunanidhi’s family. She, on the other hand, had no family and always worked with the interest of the people in mind. Even an ordinary member in the party could aspire to become a minister, something which was impossible in the DMK.

However, directly contradicting their former supreme leader’s stand, the AIADMK took a definitive turn towards dynastic politics on Tuesday evening, just hours after its general secretary VK Sasikala was convicted by the Supreme Court in an illegal wealth case.

As the battle to get the support of majority legislators continued between factions led by O Panneerselvam and Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar, who had been threatening to take the plunge into electoral politics, threw her weight behind Panneerselvam. The old saying that an enemy’s enemy is a friend came true in Deepa Jayakumar’s entry into Panneerselvam’s team. Read more