Jayalalithaa didn't even consider Sasikala worthy of contesting on MLA ticket: Expelled AIADMK MP

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], Feb 7 (ANI): Voicing her dissent against the elevation of Sasikala Natarajan as chief minister, expelled AIADMK MP Sasikala Pushpa on Tuesday asserted that late Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalaithaa had never even considered the former worthy of holding any political post, which is why she never appointed her as the interim state chief during her illness. Pushpa trained guns at her namesake and said that Jayalalithaa never allowed Natarajan to contest for a post of MLA and that the late chief minister has also accused Natarajan and her family of trying to kill her. "She is a criminal, she has been convicted by the lower court in the assets case. The case is still under trial in the higher court. Educated should rule the state. If Sasikala becomes the Chief Minister of the state, then the image of Tamil Nadu will go down. If Jayalalithaa would have considered Sasikala Natarajan worthy of a post, then why did she not appoint her as the interim Chief Minister? O. Paneerselvam was her choice," Pushpa told ANI here. "Jayalalithaa did not even give her a ticket for assembly elections. In 2011 madam Jayalalithaa openly told the press that that Sasikala Natarajan and her family tried to kill her," she added. Earlier in the day, AIADMK, party leader H. Pandiyan also questioned the manner in which Natarajan elevation as party general secretary and added that she does not have the quality to become the leader of the party or chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Strongly opposing the elevation of Natarajan, Pandiyan said, "The way she was elected as the general secretary in a hotchpotch manner, however, by the blessings Jayalaithaa and M.G. Ramachandran, the swearing in ceremony of Sasikala did not take place." When asked whether the AIADMK is divided within where only some have raised their apprehensions against the move, Pandiyan said, "There is no division within the AIADMK. Many leaders fear Sasikala and that is why none of them are going against her. But I will change that culture." However, uncertainty over V.K. Sasikala's induction as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister still remains as Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao is still in Mumbai. This uncertainty is likely to have risen after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed yesterday by a Chennai resident in the apex court seeking a stay over Sasikala's swearing-in, claiming that she had been convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for amassing wealth disproportionate to her income. Sasikala is the second accused, and next to late chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in the case. The petitioner said he filed the plea in the interest of people of Tamil Nadu and to maintain the peace in the state. (ANI)