VK Sasikala has brought back expelled relatives into Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK
Highlights
- Sasikala's relatives TTV Dinakaran and Venkatesh return to AIADMK
- Both were expelled by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa
- Sasikala to serve jail time after being found guilty in corruption case
VK Sasikala made big moves today to secure her hold over Tamil Nadu's ruling party before starting a four-year jail term for corruption. Two of her nephews expelled by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa are back in the AIADMK. Among them is former lawmaker TTV Dinakaran, who was prominent in the group that accompanied Ms Sasikala to her meeting with the Governor last week to stake claim to power. The other man is Venkatesh.
Mr Dinakaran's brother Sudhakaran was convicted along with Ms Sasikala yesterday. So was their aunt J Ilavarasi, Ms Sasikala's sister-in-law.
The oldest son of Ms Sasikala's sister, Mr Dinakaran will take over as the party's deputy general secretary, which makes him his aunt's number two. Justifying his return two months after Ms Jayalalithaa's death, Ms Sasikala said he had "apologized in writing and in person".
Mr Dinakaran was expelled by Ms Jayalalithaa in 2011 along with other members of Ms Sasikala's extended family often referred to disparagingly as the "Mannargudi mafia", named after their hometown. He remained an outcaste even after his aunt returned to Ms Jayalalithaa's home.
Mr Dinakaran is one-third of what was notorious in the 1990s as "the TTV trio" - along with brothers Sudhakaran and Bhaskaran. The group came in the media glare during Sudhakaran's staggeringly exorbitant and controversial wedding in 1995, which came to symbolize a litany of corruption charges against Ms Jayalalithaa.
Sudhakaran was adopted by Ms Jayalalithaa but disowned within a year. Ms Jayalalithaa and Ms Sasikala were famously photographed in the wedding in identical silk saris, laden with gold, including matching waistbands. A year later in 1996, Ms Jayalalithaa lost an election.
Ms Sasikala was yesterday held guilty, along with Jayalalithaa, of making a fortune beyond their known sources of income during that period. The Supreme Court said in its judgement that Ms Sasikala's relatives lived at Ms Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden bungalow and operated from there.
The court verdict ended 61-year-old Sasikala's dream of becoming Chief Minister just days after launching herself into active politics.