More to Sasikala's 'retirement'? Jayalalithaa's own 1989 'political exit' in the spotlight

Barely four weeks ahead of Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala threw a boomerang when she announced that she will be staying away from politics and public life. She added that she would continue praying for late party supremo Jayalalithaa's 'golden era' to return. 

In the latest episode of election drama, not only did the Jayalalithaa aide "quit" politics before she ever entered the fray, she explained in her letter 'I have never been after power or position even when Jayalalithaa was alive. Won't do that now, after she is dead," VK Sasikala wrote. 

However, this sudden move raises a lot of eyebrows among people familiar with Tamil Nadu's political history as it follows the same path Jayalalithaa once did 32 years ago when she first yielded power.

Read | TN BJP welcomes Sasikala's decision to quit politics; says 'common goal to fight evil DMK'

AIADMK's Election Chronicles

March 25, 1989: When DMK leader M Karunanidhi was almost two months into his third term as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa had risen as the Leader of Opposition - a feat achieved by no other woman in the State before her. This was particularly significant since she had overpowered MGR's wife Janaki in the succession battle following the actor-politician's untimely death. By doing so, not only did she grew as a huge political figure, but she also inherited MGR's political rivalry with Karunanidhi by virtue of taking over the party reins. This started a new era in politics that was mostly fought by two tall leaders of the State. 

However, what came as a shocker then was Jayalalithaa's decision to quit politics after consolidating all the power she could in the party. The late AIADMK leader drafted a letter to the Assembly Speaker with her decision to resign as MLA with effect from March 15, 1989. It so happens that the letter was "leaked" to reporters and consequently the public almost immediately, and after the Speaker accepted the letter, there was great furore within the party. 

A week later, although Jayalalithaa has resigned from her position as MLA, she was still the leader of the Opposition and in the Budget session at the Assembly, a scuffle broke out between both parties which resulted in MKD Minister Durai Murugan rushing towards Jayalalithaa to hit her but in the process, catching hold of her Saree's pallu thereby "outraging her modesty" in full Assembly view that was also populated with reporters and other politicians who were present at the time.

Read | Dhinakaran on VK Sasikala's political exit: 'Tried to convince her against this step'

Days after the incident, when Jayalalithaa emerged from the scene dishevelled and reporters saw her weeping, the image remained in everyone's mind as the comparison was made to the disrobing of Draupadi in Mahabaratha. The leader then had told reporters she had taken a vow to never enter the Assembly hall until DMK was dismissed and added: "until conditions are created under which a woman may attend the Assembly safely."

Days after this incident, Rajiv Gandhi visited Jayalalithaa in hospital who was recovering from her injuries suffered from the scuffle and that was the beginning of a crucial alliance. Eight months later, the AIADMK-Congress alliance swept the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu winning 38 out of 39 seats. Following Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991, a massive sympathy wave was created which led to a landslide victory for the AIADMK faction, putting DMK to a humiliating defeat.

Rise and lull of VK Sasikala

Fast-forwarding 32 years later, on March 3, 2021, Sasikala made her biggest move yet, when she took everyone by surprise as she announced that she would step aside from politics, but noting that she was still an AIADMK well-wisher (implying she still intends on unifying the party) and emphasising the need for the party to keep DMK off the political throne.

Sasikala's words have been carefully chosen to ensure that the phrase "odhungi irundhu" translating to "stepping aside out of own volition." Considering the context, it does not have a ring of permanence to her statement and her decision can just as easily be reverted with one move, just as Jayalalithaa did in the same month of March some 32 years ago. Both leaders have also chosen to cite "recuperating from ill health and away from the public eye" as their reasons as well. The significance and the parallels in both cases are eerily similar. 

Read | Sasikala quits politics amid AIADMK-BJP seat sharing talks: 'Will pray for Amma's rule'

It must be noted that ever since Sasikala returned to Chennai last month, after serving her prison sentence in a disproportionate assets case, speculation has mounted over the former Jayalalithaa aide's next move. While she cannot legally contest in any election due to her prison sentence for another six years, the jury was still out on her next big move. In that essence, her statement from yesterday seems like an anti-climax, at least momentarily.

Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2021

The two warring factions in AIADMK - of Deputy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) and CM E Palaniswamy (EPS), reconciled after the party named incumbent E Palaniswamy as its CM candidate and O Panneerselvam as the chief of the 11-member steering committee. With AIADMK announcing it will continue its national alliance with BJP, the saffron party is yet to officially announce its state-level alliance. Meanwhile, ex-CM Karunanidhi's successor - DMK chief MK Stalin eyes his maiden CM term as DMK cannot afford to lose a third straight Assembly election after sweeping the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with 38 seats. Kamal Haasan's MNM has initiated alliance talks with Arvind Kejriwal's AAP while AIMIM's Owaisi has also expressed interest to fight polls in the southern state. Erstwhile AIADMK ally Samathuva Makkal Katchi, headed by actor R Sarathkumar, joined hands with joins hands with SRM Group Paarivendhar's Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi to fight the upcoming polls.

Read | TN polls: AIADMK rules out tie-up with Sasikala's party; dubs AMMK as 'pack of jackals'