The streets of Mannargudi — the home town of AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala — remained calm on Tuesday, even as the Supreme Court convicted her in the disproportionate assets case.
There was no overt expression of either anger, joy, dissidence or support for the verdict of the Supreme Court, which upheld an earlier order of a trial court in the disproportionate assets case involving Sasikala and her kin Elavarasi and V.N. Sudhakaran. Not even Sasikala’s die-hard supporters came out in the open to express their views.
However, in neighbouring Tiruthuraipoondi — Sasikala’s native place — some jubilant AIADMK cadre burst firecrackers and distributed sweets soon after the verdict was pronounced. Sasikala hails from Thattara Theru in Tiruthuraipoondi and did her schooling at the Board High School in the town. But subsequently, her entire family shifted their base to Mannargudi.
The residents here have for long associated Sasikala and some of her family members to what they contemptuously describe as the ‘Mannargudi Mafia’, and accuse her lot of sullying the image of their town. “Why should we all be arraigned for the misdeeds of a clutch of people who don’t even belong to our place?” fumed a resident, requesting anonymity.
The locals draw a parallel between the response to Sasikala’s conviction now and her expulsion from the party by then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2011. Back then, none bemoaned her exit, and neither was there any widespread jubilation in the town when she was elected as the general secretary of the AIADMK recently. Only her closest supporters, all of whom were expelled by Jayalalithaa years ago, celebrated, even as the core AIADMK cadre consciously kept away. Some had even defaced her images on posters and hailed Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa openly.
The AIADMK cadre here say that Sasikala’s kin do not mingle freely with the party members, and that they always have a coterie around them, insulating the loyal cadre from the rest.
