It has taken just five years for the political roller-coaster ride of L. Sasikala Pushpa of Adayal near Mudhalur in Thoothukudi district to come to a stop.
The ride was off to a shaky start when she was nominated to the Radhapuram constituency in the 2011 Assembly election as the party candidate. Her joy and the cadres’ surprise did not last long as the seat went to the then ally, DMDK, which fielded S. Michael Rayappan, who won the seat.
The political novice, who was not known even to party cadres, was named the Mayoral candidate for Thoothukudi Corporation in October 2011. After she became Mayor, Sasikala opened ‘Puratchi Thalaivi Amma Coaching Centres’ in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli for civil services and other competitive examinations to help rural students from economically weaker sections. She was soon made secretary of AIADMK’s women’s wing, much to the shock of long-term loyalists of Ms. Jayalalithaa. In 2014, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha and was later made the party’s whip in the Upper House.
Meanwhile, a few controversial ‘photographs’ of Ms. Sasikala and her contentious telephonic conversation with a party office-bearer on the manner in which the December 2015 flood was handled in Thoothukudi went viral. Even before she could attempt damage control, the PhD degree she got from Manonmaniam Sundaranar University after being admitted to the Department of History as ‘full-time scholar’ while ‘serving’ as Rajya Sabha MP triggered another controversy. But she did not attend the convocation held on February 14.
Against this backdrop, she was removed as Rajya Sabha whip and women’s wing secretary, giving a clear indication that Ms. Jayalalithaa was not happy with her one-time favourite.
Sasikala was also running ‘Puratchi Thalaivi Amma Coaching Centres’ to train poor students
