Former AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala's release from the Parappana Agrahara prison in Karnataka has set in motion a series of reactions in Tamil Nadu. Speaking to the media, her nephew and AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran said that these 'chemical changes' will only increase as she arrives in the state on 7 February and that it will reflect in the results of the upcoming Assembly polls in the state.
Amongst the latest such 'reactions' from the AIADMK was temporarily closing the Jayalalithaa memorial that was opened in Chennai on 27 January, which happened to coincide with Sasikala's formal release from prison. The Jayalalithaa memorial has been temporarily closed, according to the AIADMK, to complete some pending construction work within the premises.
While the state government claims that the closure is merely a coincidence, Sasikala's supporters allege that it is being deliberately planned to prevent her from visiting the memorial. Ahead of her imprisonment in February 2017, she had gone to Jayalalithaa's grave and took three vows - promising to overcome hurdles, treachery, and the plot against her.
"She is set to come after one week of rest, on 7 February," said her nephew TTV Dhinakaran. "On the day of her release from the jail, the memorial was opened. I don't know what their plan was but I took it positively that it coincided with her release. But as soon as she was released, there were a lot of chemical changes in Tamil Nadu. They hurriedly opened and then hurriedly closed the memorial. Will a marriage be stopped if a comb is hidden? They will anyway have to open it at some time and at that point she will go visit. This shows the level of these people," he added.
Responding to comments by AIADMK leader KP Munusamy who stated that the party will consider allowing Dhinakaran and Sasikala to rejoin if they apologise, the AMMK chief said time will expose the truth.
"Who made the mistake, who has to be forgiven, who needs to seek forgiveness and everything else, time will tell," said Dhinakaran.
(This story was first published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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