Sasikala goes back to jail—but can she be written off?

Even as the Supreme Court verdict on the disproportionate assets case delivered on Tuesday morning has put an end to the political ambition of VK Sasikala for the time being, and possibly put an end to AIADMK’s demand to confer the ‘Bharat Ratna’ posthumously on late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, questions are already being raised about the timing of the judgment.

While Jayalalithaa died in December, 2016, the Supreme Court had reserved the judgment since June, 2016 and finally delivered it on February 14, 2017. Questions are being raised why the judgment was kept reserved for eight months and why it was declared only after Sasikala was elected the General Secretary of the AIADMK.

Would the judgment have been delivered if Jayalalitha had still been the chief minister and had not died? And now that the Supreme Court has given its verdict, will the halo around ‘Amma’ last?

The Sasikala camp had clearly hoped for a reprieve following the death of the main accused. It was J Jayalalithaa who as chief minister of Tamil Nadu was accused of misusing her office to amass wealth disproportionate to her income. While Sasikala did share the wealth and was director of some of the shell companies allegedly floated to launder the money, the main accused was Jayalalithaa without whose influence and instructions, Sasikala could not have shared the wealth, it was argued.

The full text of the Supreme Court’s verdict will throw more light on the court’s reasoning.

In the meanwhile besides the celebrations at the house of caretaker Chief Minister Ottakara Panneerselvam in Chennai, DMK and BJP also seem overjoyed at the verdict. A few BJP supporters have in fact congratulated ‘Chief Minister Panneerselvam’ but have also added the year 2019 to their message. This could be an indication that the BJP expects Panneerselvam to merge the party with the BJP at any time before the next General Election in 2019.

DMK is obviously anticipating the break-up of AIADMK and hoping to fill the vacuum as the sole Dravidian party.

While the conviction is an acid test for Sasikala’s leadership, some observers are wondering if it would be premature to write her off. Will the AIADMK MLAs flock to the Panneerselvam camp en masse or will they rally around the newly elected leader of AIADMK’s legislature party Edapadi K Palanisamy, who is expected to stake his claim with the blessings of ‘Chinamma’ Sasikala. Paneerselvam himself has been removed from the party.

The jail term could also turn out to be Sasikala’s baptism by fire and a blessing in disguise. She could harness both sympathy and support from behind bars.

Significantly, BJP Member of the Rajya Sabha Dr Subramanian Swamy, who had initiated the DA case against Jayalalitha in 1996, said outside the Supreme Court that Sasikala ‘is a smart woman’ and he would not say that her political career has come to an end.

Sasikala’s legal battle is not over either. She can now go for a review of the verdict and then thereafter a curative petition. However, most of the review petitions are normally dismissed as the same bench would review its order.

With inputs from NH Political Bureau.

This article was updated at 1.42 pm on February 14; ‘1998’ was changed to ‘1996’ in the last paragraph.

At 2 pm on February 14, the byline was updated and a paragraph added at the end .