Sasikala family planned coup against Jayalalithaa

Chennai: AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha’s action against Sasikala Natarajan and her family members in the party was no ordinary purge. Jayalalithaa got wind of the Sasikala family conspiracy to stage a political coup and take over the chief ministership from Amma.

Insiders concede that the Sasikala family plan was to appear close to Jayalalithaa and pose as her loyalists right till the verdict in the disproportionate assets case now under trial in Bangalore. The gravevine has it Sasikala, who is facing trial in the case along with Jayalalithaa, believed she would escape lightly while Jayalalithaa would face the stigma of conviction in the case. On moral grounds, Jayalalithaa would have to step down from the post of chief ministership.

It is precisely this moment that the Sasikala family would wait for and take the initiative. While Jayalalithaa would opt for O S Panneerselvam to take over the mantle of chief ministership till her return (after getting an acquittal from a higher court), as happened in 2001, the Sasikala family had its own plans.

It did not want Panneerselvam to fill the vaccum. The family wanted to grab power and have a family nominee as Chief Minister instead. Once this happened, the Sasikala family would have total power over the party and Government, and Jayalalithaa’s return would be rendered difficult. Their calculation was that their share would no longer just be a slice of the pie but the entire pie itself.

Preliminary meetings with small groups of MLAs indicated that at least 67 AIADMK MLAs had already confirmed to the Mannargudi family of support to its nominee as Chief Minister. Family members believed that this number would easily double once the process of finding a successor began.

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Mobilising support among the MLAs was easy for the family as a large of MLAs were given party tickets for the 2011 Assembly polls at the instance of the family. Several Ministers too owed allegiance to the family. When Jayalalithaa assumed power as Chief Minister in May 2011, back-seat driving was comfortable, even child’s play, for the family.

As Ministers, officials and MLAs combined under the guidance of the Sasi family, more and more deals were struck, many of them behind the back of Jaya. Corruption is one thing but a coup is an entirely different cup of tea. Jaya learnt, to her discomfiture, that the Sasi family had dropped all pretense of being loyal to her and that moves were afoot to take over the chief ministership of the state.

It was in Bangalore that the intelligence wing of the Tamil Nadu police got the first tip-off about a secret meeting of the Sasikala family. Members of the family had a wild celebration one night in Bangalore, perhaps in anticipation of things to come.

Up to this moment, Jaya had little or no clue about the conspiracy, according to insiders. Jaya and Sasi even traveled together to Bangalore to attend the court proceedings. To all outward appearances, things were normal.

Sources close to the BJP chief minister in Karnataka say that the tip-off about the meetings and celebration of the Sasi family came from Gowda’s aides.

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The first shock for the Sasi family came when she and her close relatives were stranded at the Chennai airport on arrival from Bangalore. Jayalalithaa left for Poes Garden by her car. There was no vehicle for Sasi and her relatives, it is said! A bewildered Sasi got in touch with Poes Garden. She was told to take a cab and come home. A relative runs a tourist taxi service from the airport. His vehicle had to be pressed into service. On reaching Poes Garden, Sasi was told she could pack up her bags and leave Jaya’s residence.

Sasi left for a relative’s house. Soon, one shock followed another as Jayalalithaa began the purge. Senior officers in crucial posts were shunted out, ministers dropped and the axe fell on Sasi and her family members. Partymen were told not to be in contact with any member of the Sasi family, and intelligence sleuths were working round the clock to identify co-conspirators, Sasi loyalists and persons with doubtful integrity. They were swiftly weeded out of the party and Government. To Jaya’s shock, she found that some members of the Sasi family were even in league with some powerful elements in the DMK, especially in the southern districts including Madurai strongman and Karunanidhi’s son, Union Minister M K Alagiri.

For now, Jaya has nipped the conspiracy in the bud. The coup has been contained. Has it been crushed once and for all? The Sasi family is lying low, waiting for the right opportunity to claw its way back into the inner coterie -- or to strike back. Much depends on which way the court battles unfold in the next few months.