Sasikala Natarajan, In Amma's Shoes!

The Leader is dead, long live the leader. Sasikala is all set to take over the Jayalalithaa legacy, and with it, the mantle of AIADMK chief.

- Amarnath K. Menon

Multi-coloured posters of V.K. Sasikala, now even larger than her late mentor, Jayalalithaa, and relegating Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam to the background, have come up all over walls in Chennai and across Tamil Nadu. The die has been cast, all is over bar the frantic shouting, pledging allegiance as Sasikala is anointed the new boss of the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). After getting Panneerselvam chosen unanimously as chief minister, by the time Jayalalithaa’s death was announced on the night of December 5, she moved deftly to make sure she was at the centre of things.

Ensconced in Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden home, Sasikala had Panneerselvam and other AIADMK leaders calling on her, like in the past, ensuring there were no blips in governance or management of the party. Indeed, there seems to be no major rumblings against her taking on the duties of the all-powerful AIADMK general secretary—the coveted party post held by Jayalalithaa.