From soul sisters to frenemies: The highs and lows of the Jayalalithaa-Sasikala relationship

There’s trouble brewing for Sasikala, courtesy the Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry’s report, which investigated the circumstances surrounding the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, in the Assembly.

The 608-page report, handled by a former Madras High Court judge, A Arumughaswamy, has concluded that V K Sasikala, the late chief minister’s confidante, “have to be found fault with and investigation is to be ordered”. The panel also named Dr Sivakumar (Jayalalithaa’s personal physician and relative of Sasikala), former Health Secretary Radhakrishnan and former Health Minister C Vijayabaskar and requested an investigation against them.

“Considering various aspects, the Commission is constrained to come to no other conclusion but to indict VK Sasikala. From all the aspects the commission concludes that VK Sasikala, Dr Sivakumar, then health secretary J Radhakrishnan and then health Minister C Vijayabaskar have to be found fault with and investigations are to be ordered,” the report said, as per a News9Live report.

The report indicated that Sasikala and Jayalalithaa were not on good terms when the latter was admitted to the hospital.

The report is the result of the Arumughaswamy Commission, which was set up in 2017 by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam following J Jayalalithaa’s demise and the conflicting accounts of the former chief minister’s illness and treatment at Apollo Hospital.

We take a look back at the enigmatic relationship between J Jayalalithaa and VK Sasikala and the many ups and downs in their almost 30-year friendship.

A friendship like no other

Today, the friendship between Jayalalithaa and VK Sasikala is known worldwide. Sasikala has been described as Jayalalithaa’s pillar of strength, confidante and ‘udanipiravaa sagothari’ — a sister ‘though not born from the same womb’.

The credit of introducing Sasikala to Jayalalithaa belongs to IAS officer-turned-politician VS Chandralekha, who hired Sasikala’s husband, R Natarajan as her PRO.

It is said that Sasikala started visiting Poes Garden, Jayalalithaa’s residence, to provide video cassettes to her. This customer-consumer relationship soon blossomed into a strong friendship.

In the late 1980s, she moved into Jayalaltihaa’s home and started taking charge of Amma’s residence. She cemented her ties with Amma while the latter fought a political battle in the late ’80s to wrest full control of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) after the death of her mentor and the party’s founder M G Ramachandran.

Sasikala and Natarajan helped Jayalalithaa overcome the grief of MGR’s death and instilled confidence in her to lead the party. From here on, Sasikala would follow Jayalalithaa everywhere including temples, state Assembly, election campaigns and would often be seen passing notes to her during her speeches.

Jayalalithaa called Sasikala her soul sister and even adopted the latter’s nephew VN Sudhakaran as her “foster son”.

In 1995, Jayalalithaa announced Sudhakaran wedding to Sathyalakshmi, the granddaughter of legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan, which made national headlines.

Jayalalithaa left no stone unturned for this event, known as the “mother of all weddings”. She was later accused of misusing state machinery for the extravagant affair and many attribute Jayalalithaa’s loss in the 1996 Assembly elections to the wedding.

Also read: Cops question Sasikala in Kodanad case: Explaining the 2017 robbery-murder incident and her link to it

Sasikala’s influence

Soon Sasikala exerted influence in all aspects of Jayalalithaa’s life, be it personal or professional. Despite being informed about Sasikala’s alleged abuse of power and misappropriation of assets, Jayalalithaa defended her confidante.

In fact, in an interview to The Hindu, Jayalalithaa said, “Sasikala never functioned as an extra-constitutional power centre. People must understand that a politician also needs someone to look after his or her home. A male politician has a wife at home and a woman politician has a husband or brother to take care of her personal matters. I have no one. It is only because Sasikala stepped in to take care of my household that I was able to devote my full attention to politics.”

It is said that it was Sasikala who persuaded Jayalalithaa to withdraw support to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government in 1999. Sasikala had realised she was being ignored by the BJP and arranged a meeting between Jayalalithaa and Sonia Gandhi in 1999. Stepping out of the meeting, Jayalalithaa announced she was withdrawing support to the NDA. The Vajpayee government lost the no-confidence motion by one vote.

Souring of ties

The friendship between Sasikala and Jayalalithaa hit a rough patch in mid-1990s. Between June 1996 and April 1997, Sasikala was in jail in a Foreign Exchange Regulation Act case. Jayalalithaa, too, was arrested, but was released on bail 45 days later. In a press conference, she blamed Sasikala’s family and banished her and her family from Poes Garden.

This expulsion lasted a mere 100 days or so before Sasikala officially joined the AIADMK in 2000 and became a member of its general council.

In December 2011, Sasikala was banished from Poes Garden again — on charges that Sasikala-led Mannargudi mafia was conspiring to install Sasikala as the next chief minister. However, on 30 March 2012, leading news channels stopped their regular broadcast to announce the news about Jayalalithaa’s decision about revoking Sasikala’s suspension and accepting her apology.

Jayalalithaa’s death and Sasikala

On 22 September 2016, Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, as she was suffering from an infection and acute dehydration. In an interview with The Week, Sasikala recounted the day she was admitted to hospital: “Everything was fine. Akka and I were chatting in the bedroom. Akka went to the washroom and came out. She said she felt giddy. As I walked towards her, she fell onto me. Holding her up with one arm, I reached for the phone and called the doctor and security officers. I was devastated.”

After 75 days of hospitalisation, Jayalalithaa passed away in hospital on 5 December 2016.

At the funeral, Sasikala was devastated and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen consoling her.

In March 2021, Sasikala shocked all political stakeholders when she announced her retirement from politics. “I will stay away from politics and keep praying my sister Puratchi Thalaivi (Jayalalithaa), whom I consider as God, and the Lord Almighty for the establishment of the golden rule of Amma,” Sasikala said in a statement.

It is left to be seen now what the inquiry report means for Sasikala and what lies ahead for the one-time confidant of Jayalalithaa.

With inputs from agencies

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