Former AIADMK MP to Rajya Sabha Sasikala Pushpa Ramaswamy joined BJP on Sunday. Sasikala is among the Rajya Sabha members whose term comes to an end this April. Between 2011 and 2014 she served as Thoothukudi’s Mayor following which she served as an AIADMK MP in the Rajya Sabha.

Sasikala’s entry comes at a time when Tamil Nadu is heading towards Assembly elections next year. The TN BJP President post too remains vacant following Dr Tamilisai Soundarrajan’s appointment as Governor of Telangana.

Following an altercation with DMK MP Tiruchi Siva at the Delhi airport in 2016, it was believed that Sasikala Pushpa was expelled from AIADMK. In a statement released by the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK General Secretary, Jayalalithaa had said Sasikala had been expelled for “going against the party's aims and rules, causing disrepute and going against the party orders, and for acting in ways that go against the party's interests and principles.”

Following this, Sasikala Pushpa in her interviews had called AIADMK “a party of slaves” and claimed that she was being “compelled to resign by her party leader.” 

However, in July 2017 the Supreme Court did not find any expulsion notice from the party and therefore it was concluded that she was not expelled from the party. According to reports, both Siva and Sasikala were on the same flight to Chennai from New Delhi when the incident reportedly took place. Soon after the incident, Sasikala claimed that she had slapped the DMK MP after he spoke ill about the AIADMK and its cadres while it was reported that Siva de-boarded the flight when he came to know that Sasikala was on it.

It is interesting to note that following Jayalalithaa’s demise, Sasikala Pushpa moved a civil suit against Sasikala Natarajan’s elevation to party General Secretary claiming that the latter was expelled in 2011 and so was not eligible to even contest for the post.

In March 2018, Sasikala Pushpa’s wedding to Dr B Ramaswamy whipped up a controversy after the two went ahead despite a court order staying the wedding. The Madurai court intervened on the basis of a complaint filed by a woman named Sathyapriya, 34, who had alleged that she hadn’t yet officially divorced Ramaswamy.