Jayalalithaa’s legacy and AIADMK’s collapse: How Amma’s absence triggered a political unraveling
5th December 2025 marked the ninth death anniversary of Jayalalithaa, the charismatic chief minister of Tamil Nadu and the longest serving (1989-2015) general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (AIADMK), the political outfit founded by her mentor M G Ramachandran, known as MGR. Amma, as she is addressed in reverence by the Tamils, was the chief minister of the state for 14 years.
Nobody can deny the fact that it was Jayalalithaa who made the AIADMK the biggest regional political party in South India. There was a time when the party was in power in Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. The AIADMK, founded by MGR in 1972 following his ouster from the DMK by the then chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi as part of his mission to transform the party into a family enterprise, grew into a one crore-member strong outfit thanks to Jayalalithaa.
An interesting aspect of Jayalalithaa is that she remained a winner throughout her political career. She was sworn in as chief minister for the first time in 1991. Though she ushered in a number of novel schemes like the Cradle Baby Scheme as an antidote to female infanticide and highly subsidized rations for people below the poverty line, the opulent marriage she arranged for a close relation of her close aide, V K Sasikala, and the free run given to the latter and her close relations damaged her electoral prospects in 1996. It was not the love for Karunanidhi that helped him to win the 1996 election, but the voters’ anger against her that resulted in the DMK winning the assembly election. Karunanidhi, who was in political wilderness, staged a comeback and lost no time in foisting a number of corruption cases against Amma.
Special Courts were set up to try the cases against Jayalalithaa, and this included the TANSI land deal, Pleasant Stay Hotel at Kodaikanal, and the disproportionate asset case. The Lady in Poes Garden won all the cases except the disproportionate asset case, in which the Special Court in Bangalore sentenced her to four years imprisonment and a fine of Rs.100 crore. Along with her, Sasikala, her nephew Sudhakaran, and niece Ilavarasi were convicted and sentenced to four-year terms. Jayalalithaa was back in action following the Karnataka High Court quashing the Special Court verdict. But the weeks she spent in Parappana Agragara Prison before the Supreme Court granted her bail in the DA case had taken their toll, and Amma’s health deteriorated. Her over-dependence on Sasikala and her family was the main reason for her downfall. Though many persons, including her personal astrologer, had warned her against continuing the friendship with Sasikala, Amma chose to ignore the same. According to K P Sunil, former head of Jaya TV and a close confidante of Jayalalithaa, the Mannargudi Mafia (as Sasikala and her relations were known) antagonized those who were close to Jayalalithaa and ensured that nobody approached her without their consent and approval.
Jayalalithaa’s demise itself is shrouded in mystery. Dr Pratap C Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospital, where Jayalalithaa had been admitted on 15th September 2016, told reporters on 3rd December 2016 that it was for Jayalalithaa to decide when to get discharged from the hospital and go home. Within 48 hours, Jayalalithaa breathed her last. Though Jayalalithaa had ousted Sasikala and company from Veda Nilayam (Jaya’s imposing personal bungalow), they managed to re-enter the house in a mysterious manner. Sasikala had issued a statement to the party cadres that her only mission in life was to serve her Akka (as she addressed Jayalalithaa) and she had no political ambitions. But later events proved that Sasikala was biding her time and was waiting for the right moment to strike.
A week after Jayalalithaa passed away, this writer had written an article in The Pioneer stating that with Amma gone, the AIADMK is in for a major crisis[1]. No leaders in the party had the stature and charisma that matched Amma, and the AIADMK is sure to disintegrate into factions led by local chieftains. The process of disintegration began with the Mannargudi Mafia removing O Paneerselvam from the post of chief minister by February 2017 and coronating Chinnamma (as Sasikala) as legislative party leader. It was also decided to get Sasikala sworn in as chief minister on 14th February 2017, and arrangements were made for the ceremony to be held at Madras University Centenary Auditorium. But the Supreme Court delivered a knock-out punch by overturning the Karnataka High Court verdict acquitting Jayalalithaa, Sasikala, and the other two in the DA case and asked Sasikala to surrender in front of the Parappana Agrahara Prison officials on the day she was expected to be sworn as chief minister. Tamil Nadu witnessed a comic interlude since the ouster of Paneerselvam as chief minister to facilitate the crowning of Chinnamma in his place. Resort politics was in full flow as MLAs belonging to the AIADMK were ferried from Chennai to a coastal resort at Mahabalipuram under the watchful eyes of bouncers. But one or two MLAs, including S Semmalai, managed to give a slip to the Mafia bosses and escaped to the safety of their homes. Since she was asked to surrender to the Bangalore prison authorities, Sasikala was left with no alternative other than entrusting the chief minister’s post to Edappadi Palaniswamy, one of her trusted aides. His brief was to hold fort till she returned from prison or to make way to another member of the Mannargudi family as and when they get elected to the Legislative Assembly.
Palaniswamy started his governance in right earnest till T T V Dinakaran, a nephew of Sasikala, entered the scene. Dinakaran had been expelled from the AIADMK by none other than Jayalalithaa, and he was declared a persona non grata in Veda Nilayam. When the Election Commission of India declared the by-election from RK Nagar, a Chennai suburb, (which was represented by Amma after her acquittal by the Karnataka High Court), Dinakaran was the first to file nomination papers. His associates declared that he would be sworn in as chief minister after the by-election. Though he won the seat with the tacit support of DMK and M K Stalin, he could not make it to the CMO as Palaniswamy had fortified Fort St George to ward off any challenges from him. Though Dinakaran played all the tricks at his disposal to make Palaniswamy quit as chief minister, it did not yield any results. Dinakaran went to the extent of seeking the services of sorcerers to finish off the threat posed by EPS. His frequent visits to a hermit, known as Mookkipodi Sidhar (a monk who accepts only snuff), made it to the headlines. But neither the snuff powder he offered the Sidhar nor the eggs he planted outside the office and residence of EPS could make any changes. A frustrated Dinakaran formed his own political outfit, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) in 2018. Though no senior leaders or MLAs joined him, Dinakaran claimed that he has many sleeper cells in the AIADMK led by Palaniswamy, and the operatives would strike at the opportune moment.[2]
Meanwhile, EPS and OPS fell out, and both started digging the graveyards of each other. True to the forecast, the AIADMK formed by MGR and nurtured by Jayalalithaa started disintegrating at a rate faster than it was formed. Now we have the AIADMK faction led by EPS and a faction led by OPS. Sasikala, who completed her tenure in Bangalore prison, is back in Chennai with the claim that hers is the original AIADMK. Poor woman, she does not have any office or staff of her own and issues press releases with the heading “Endrum Amma Vazhiyil” (Tamil for Always in Amma’s Path). She does not have any telephone/ fax number, and the only address mentioned in the releases is Camp Office, Mrs V K Sasikala, General Secretary!.
The latest to jump the sinking ship is K A Sengottaiyan, a former minister who was the chief organiser of late Jayalalithaa’s road shows during the elections. Though his departure is not going to make any impact on the already depleted strength of the AIADMK, the number of persons leaving the party are increasing by the day. The truth is that neither EPS nor OPS has the charisma and capability to sustain the AIADMK carved out by Jayalalithaa. As of this date, there are no persons in the AIADMK who can navigate the sinking ship to safe shores. The only option available to these failed leaders are to quit their positions and merge the entity with the BJP, a party with young leaders like K Annamalai, Vanathi Srinivasan, and seasoned politicians like H Raja.
At its peak, the AIADMK had commanded a vote share of 40 percent (In the 2011 assembly election, the party had polled 51.9 percent votes while the DMK had to be content with 39 percent votes). But in the 2021 assembly polls, the AIADMK was relegated to the second position as it could mobilize just 39.2 percent votes, while the DMK, aided and strengthened by fringe elements and caste and communal groups, polled 45.7 percent. The 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls were a total washout for AIADMK. The party could win just one seat out of the 39 constituencies at stake in the State, while the DMK-led alliance walked away with 38 seats and 53 percent votes. The results were no different in the 2024 polls as AIADMK, led by EPS, drew a blank as the DMK-led front won all the 29 seats. But an important takeaway of the 2024 election was the 18.28 percent votes polled by the BJP led by former IPS officer K Annamalai.
Palaniswamy has proved his inefficiency in leading a party as he lost not one but three elections successively. He is being termed a spineless wonder as he apologized to the Muslims and Christians for forging an alliance with the BJP. “I seek your pardon and apologies for the alliance we have entered with the BJP, but it is only a pre-poll arrangement,” Edappadi said while addressing election meetings in the districts of Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, and Kanyakumari during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Assembly election. Palaniswamy is another name of Lord Muruga of the Hill Shrine at Palani. But Edappadi Palaniswamy has proved himself to be a Spineless Swamy. Jayalalithaa too had formed an alliance with the BJP, but she never apologized to the voters for forming such an alliance.
The present bunch of leaders in the AIADMK are no match for Amma. The earlier the cadres get rid of these leaders, the better for the party and Tamil Nadu. If not, there would be no AIADMK by the time the nation celebrates the centenary of independence. The AIADMK was formed in 1972, and the party would have turned 75 in 2047. It is not known whether M K Stalin would give peace of mind to Jayalalithaa and MGR in their Marina graveyards, as the DMK’s first family is all set to usurp the available space in the beautiful beach as the eternal resting place of both the Chennai-based widows of Karunanidhi (Dayalu and Rajathi) and their children including Stalin who is weak, fragile and frail. Remember, the Karunanidhi clan will never allow any other leaders from outside the family to figure in the political and social history of Tamil Nadu. The Congress, which had ruled the state till 1967 before it was unseated once and forever, is treated as a doormat by the DMK. This is not known to the family in New Delhi that controls the Congress.[3]
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
Reference:
[1] Life after Amma – Dec 11, 2016, The Pioneer
[2] On Jaya’s death anniversary, OPS renews unity call, says won’t float new party – Dec 06, 2025, The New Indian Express
[3] AIADMK leaders and members paid floral tributes to former CM Jayalalithaa on her death anniversary – Dec 05, 2025, IANS
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