Sasikala won't exercise her franchise for TN polls? Name goes missing from voters' list

In a key development a day ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, it emerged that expelled AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala might be unable to cast her franchise. This is owing to the fact that her name has gone missing from the voters' list. Moreover, multiple other names listed at J Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence including her sister-in-law J Illavarasi have been deleted. Poes Garden falls under the Thousand Lights constituency where actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar of BJP is pitted against DMK's Dr. Ezhilan.

As per sources, the names were deleted from the electoral roles after the late TN CM's residence was taken over by the state government for converting it into a memorial. While some others including Illavarasi's son Vivek Jayaraman got themselves enrolled at another residential address, she and Sasikala failed to do so as they were in prison. Crying foul over the snatching away of her democratic rights, the TTV Dhinakaran-led AMMK claimed that she was not intimated about the removal of her name from the voters' list. 

Sasikala's electoral exit 

On January 27, Sasikala was formally released from prison after serving a 4-year jail term in the Rs.66 crore disproportionate assets case. But, she was discharged from the Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru only on January 31 as she was undergoing treatment for COVID-19. After receiving a raucous welcome on her return to Tamil Nadu, the ousted AIADMK leader declared that she would enter full-fledged politics soon.

However, in a sudden change of stance on March 3, she decided to step aside from politics to ensure that "all followers of Jayalalithaa stay together" to defeat DMK in the TN Assembly polls. In another interesting turn of events on March 24, TN Deputy CM O Panneerselvam made a U-turn by hinting at the possibility of re-inducting her in AIADMK. The AIADMK coordinator told a Tamil news channel that he was ready to reconsider his stance on Sasikala's re-entry provided that she accepted the "internal democracy" in the party.

According to him, this decision would be taken on the grounds of "humanity" as she had been with Jayalalithaa for many decades. Maintaining that he did not suspect the expelled AIADMK general secretary of having a role in Jayalalithaa's death, Panneerselvam claimed that he suggested the formation of an inquiry commission so that she is cleared of all charges. Coming days ahead of the state election, the Deputy CM's intervention was perceived as a rebuff to E Palaniswami who refused to approve an alliance with the TTV Dhinakaran-led AMMK.