AIADMK general council unanimously elects Jayalalithaa companion Sasikala as Party General Secretary and demands Bharat Ratna, Magsaysay and Nobel prizes for Amma.

Chennai: The AIADMK general council meeting held a little while ago this morning elected VK Sasikala, long-time companion and friend of Jayalalithaa, as the General Secretary of the party.

The party meet that began early morning on the outskirts of Chennai passed 14 resolutions, the most important being the new leader in place of Jayalalithaa, who passed away on December 5. The election of Sasikala was unanimous as the leader to take the party forward and to fight the conspiracies being hatched against the party.

With the last resolution, urging Sasikala to take over the reins of the party, the AIADMK passed on the mantle of carrying forward the legacy of MGR and Amma. The party leaders and cadres, congregated in Chennai, were joyful that Chinnamma was the unanimous choice of one and all in the party.

“We see MGR and Jayalalithaa in Chinnamma,” says one of the resolutions passed at the general council meeting, indicating the complete control of Sasikala over the party, and even the government. Chief Minister O Panneerselvam is said to be in regular touch with Sasikala and calls on her almost every day at the Poes Garden residence.

Most of the district units of the party backed Sasikala as the next party chief, said a senior AIADMK leader after the meeting got over.

The AIADMK also wanted the government of India to award Amma the Bharat Ratna, and sought after awards – Magsaysay Award and Nobel Prize for peace – in another resolution.

The DMK maintained that it was an internal matter of the AIADMK, but said it would depend on how the Central Government uses the raids on former Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, who was considered very close to Jayalalithaa and Sasikala. Whether the investigations are carried on to their logical end or the same are used as political tools to force the AIADMK to fall in line remains to be seen, said a DMK leader.