Sasikala Natarajan, a name very few in the current day are oblivious to. In the midst of some unexpected circumstances from the passing of the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa to her “Sister from another mother” Sasikala taking the throne, many presume the last few days have black days for democracy. O Paneer Selvam, who acted as the stand-in CM of Tamil Nadu after the untimely death of J Jayalalithaa, had stepped down to pave way for Sasikala and apparently, that was what he wanted.
What gives All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) the authority to hand over the reigns to someone who has neither contested an election before or has led any campaigns or schemes framed by the erstwhile CM Jayalalithaa is a question that has been haunting people. Yet hardly few people in the party can dare to question Sasikala and that’s solely because she was the only one who near and dear to their beloved leader Amma. “Chinnamma” as they call her, is hours away from the oath taking ceremony.
Though some party officials have suggested that Sasikala has their faith, the people of Tamil Nadu are finding it difficult to accept her as the CM. Campaigns on social media with the hashtag “Not My CM” symbolizes what her people or the country think of her, but quite certainly, she will be following the footsteps of Jayalalithaa as that probably is the only way to win the hearts of people.
One mustn’t forget the fact that Jayalalithaa too had entered politics in a similar way after the demise of former CM and Bharat Ratna awardee M.G. Ramachandran in 1987. Despite a vehement denial of support from many in the party, Jayalalithaa managed to withstand the pressure and the rest as they say is history. But for Chinnamma to replicate something similar will take a lot of sweat shedding.
