As AIADMK is gearing up for its general council meeting on 29 December that will see Jayalalithaa’s aide Sasikala being elected as general secretary, a few cadres are backing Deepa Jayakumar, Jayalalithaa’s niece.
AIADMK cadres in Coimbatore installed a hoarding on Sunday evening supporting Deepa.
The hoarding was put up in the Kuritchi area in Coimbatore. The cut out consists of a picture of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, her niece Deepa and AIADMK cadres supporting her. It said, “Junior Amma J Deepa, we will support.”
However, the poster was taken down by the Coimbatore police in half an hour.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Dharman, an AIADMK cadre, said:
No one can take the place of Amma in the party. She was everything for us. We just have one Amma and that is Puratchi Thalaivi Amma. The way Puratchi Thalaivar MGR took care of the party, in the same way Amma took care of the party. But Sasikala cannot do that. We cannot call anyone ‘Chinamma, Chinamma’. We do not need a Chinnamma. We want someone trustworthy who can take care of the party and that is, Deepa.
Another poster supporting Sasikala that came up in the Sundrapuram area of Coimbatore was blackened by miscreants. That poster was also pulled down by the police.
Deepa Jayakumar, Jayalalithaa’s estranged niece had made it clear through many interviews that she was willing to lead the party, if the cadre wished so.
Two weeks ago, posters of both Sasikala and Deepa were put up all over the state. The posters supporting Sasikala called her “Chinnamma” and the posters supporting Deepa called her “Kulavilakka” and “Aala Pirandavale” which means guiding lamp and the incarnated one, reported The Times of India.
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