‘Sasikala as CM’ call gets louder

Chennai: The clamour for Sasikala Natarajan to take charge of not just the AIADMK but head the Tamil Nadu government as chief minister gained momentum on Sunday. The campaign was launched by Revenue minister R.B. Uthayakumar who declared Sasikala is “best qualified” to be the Chief Minister as she had “immense knowledge and experience in handling issues” due to her three-decade-long close association with late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

After Mr Uthayakumar announced that Ms Sasikala was the “natural successor” to late Jayalalithaa as chief minister, minister after minister joined the cry for her to assume the top post, saying she “deserved the position” in every way since she had closely observed the functioning of the government and the AIADMK for decades together.

Health minister C. Vijayabhaskar, transport minister M.R. Vijayabhaskar, rural development minister P. Benjamin, party’s most prominent face on TV debates C.R. Saraswathi and O. Pannerselvam’s bete noire Thanga Tamil Selvan told this newspaper that Ms Sasikala has all “capabilities and experience” in steering the State as she has learned the trick of running the administration from a charismatic leader like J. Jayalalithaa.

They were unanimous in their view that Ms Sasikala should contest byelections from R.K. Nagar, which Jayalalithaa represented, and take over as chief minister or even before if she desires. Mr Uthayakumar announced the launch of his campaign at Jayalalithaa’s memorial on Sunday afternoon flanked by Presidium Chairman of the AIADMK E. Madhusudhanan and other senior leaders.