CHENNAI: Asserting that she would provide good governance, V K Sasikala, the close aide of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, said the AIADMK leadership had committed a big mistake by unnecessarily disqualifying 18 MLAs.
The MLAs sided with her nephew, T T V Dhinakaran, in 2017.
In her latest telephone call to a supporter in Theni, the home turf of AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam, Sasikala hit out at the party leadership for being self-centred.
“It was unnecessary to disqualify the MLAs.
The party strove hard and won the seats when Amma (Jayalalithaa) was unwell.
That they had forgotten that fact and disqualified them is a big mistake,” she said.
The AIADMK leadership had failed to take note of the general cause and the well-being of the party before taking the decision, she added.
Sasikala said she would steer the party and maintain discipline as done by Jayalalithaa.
The lack of discipline resulted in the party losing power, she said.
“The party would have continued ruling for the third consecutive term,” she said.
Sasikala said the present leadership had been treating the cadre like ‘stepmother,’ and she would protect the AIADMK’s ‘1.5 crore family.’ Her responsibility was also to implement the welfare measures of Jayalalithaa to the poor and needy, she said.
She plans to visit districts after the lockdown is lifted.