Sasikala begins consultations with supporters on finalising strategy for 2026 T.N. Assembly poll

Former interim general secretary of the AIADMK and former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s aide, V.K. Sasikala, has begun consultations with her supporters to finalise her strategy for the 2026 Assembly election. 

At present, Ms. Sasikala has no place in the AIADMK, even though she claims she remains the general secretary of the party. Her interactions with her supporters will go on till Friday (February 13, 2026). A close follower of her camp says, “Ms. Sasikala may take a call shortly.” This may take place before the birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa on February 24, he adds.   

Explaining the purpose of the interactions, her supporter, who had served as a legislator of the AIADMK in the past, says the idea is to impress upon Ms. Sasikala that her group should not keep itself out of the Assembly election, unlike in 2021, when she chose to step aside from contesting elections. Besides, the affairs of the parent party “are not being run” along the lines of the organisation’s founder M.G. Ramachandran and his successor Jayalalithaa’s ideals. “This is why we want to enter the electoral fray and mark our presence,” the member of the Sasikala camp observes. 

Disqualification period

As for Ms. Sasikala herself, the period of disqualification continues, and therefore, she will not be able to contest the polls this year. The disqualification period will come to an end only early next year.

When her nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran launched the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) in 2018, Ms. Sasikala was named the general secretary of the new party. At the time, she was serving her sentence in a jail in Bengaluru. A year later, Mr. Dhinakaran became the general secretary and stated publicly that his aunt would continue with litigation for gaining control of the AIADMK. Even as he has joined hands with the Dravidian major, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has refused to accommodate both Ms. Sasikala and former coordinator of the party and ex-Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam in the alliance.

To a question on whether the group’s presence in the electoral scene will have an impact on the prospects of the AIADMK and its allies in the poll, he recalls that in his home district of Tiruvallur, the AIADMK and its partners had lost in all the 10 constituencies by substantial margins. This showed how the party had become “weak,” and it is to “correct this situation” that the group is contemplating taking part in the poll. 

To another question as to whether the group would align itself with Mr. Panneerselvam, who met Ms. Sasikala at Pasumpon last year during the birth anniversary of Forward Bloc leader U. Muthuramalinga Thevar, and a faction owing allegiance to the Pattali Makkal Katchi’s founder S. Ramadoss, he says that all options will be considered before she finalises her stand.