Jayalalithaa sacks Rajya Sabha MP Sasikala Pushpa over slap incident

Two days after she slapped DMK MP Tiruchi Siva at the Delhi airport, AIADMK’s Sasikala Pushpa told the Rajya Sabha on Monday that she herself had been slapped by “a leader” and needed protection as her life was under threat.

Shortly afterwards, AIADMK headquarters in Chennai mailed to all the media houses a statement from party supremo J. Jayalalithaa expelling Ms Pushpa, a Rajya Sabha MP, from all party posts and even the primary membership for violating party discipline. Her actions, the statement said, had brought “disrepute” to the party.

Speaking to reporters later, the controversial MP said she would “remain an Independent member and continue to serve the people”.

In the morning, within minutes of the Rajya Sabha convening, Ms Pushpa rushed to the well of the House seeking the chair’s permission to make a statement. Alleging that “a leader” had slapped her during her visit to Chennai on Sunday, she asked, “If an MP is being slapped by a leader, where is human dignity ” She broke down several times while claiming that she was facing “life threat” from the state government. She did not say who had slapped her.

She also said she had been facing intense pressure for the last two months from the AIADMK leadership to resign from the Rajya Sabha, but declared amid sobbing and high drama that she would not yield.

Even as her party MPs protested angrily, saying she should not be allowed to make charges against someone who would not be able to defend themselves, she found support from the Congress with Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, saying she should be allowed to speak since she was a member of the House.

“Where is women’s safety in this country ...I am being harassed. I have been slapped by her yesterday. I need protection. In Tamil Nadu, I don’t have safety. There is threat to my life”, Ms Pushpa said.

During her press conference later in the day, she said, “Why should I resign What mistake have I done Personal is different, politics is different”, she declared at a press conference she convened at her MP residence after she received marching orders. She thanked Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for the support she got from the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, but when asked if she would join the Congress, she replied, “I do not know”.