Hundreds of supporters, multiple cars and a legal team were all in place on Monday to ensure a smooth journey for former AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala, who completed four years in prison, as she made her way back to Chennai from Bengaluru. From police intervention to AIADMK's party rules, Sasikala's team were prepared to handle any hurdles placed by the ruling government to the grand roadshow planned to mark her political re-entry.
The first roadblock - the usage of the party flag was quickly circumvented by using the vehicles of AIADMK membership holders. Sasikala's camp tells TNM that multiple cars had been arranged for her, to ensure that no legal problems arose. The TN government and police had cautioned Sasikala against using the AIADMK flag.
"All the cars we have chosen belong to AIADMK members who can use the flag. The vehicle owner along with the car's documents are also seated in these cars and thus legally, there is no way the police can stop them," says Sasikala's advocate Raja Senthoor Pandian.
In her journey, that began close to 8am Sasikala changed her vehicle once as the car she travelled in was giving trouble. According to reports, the two vehicles used so far belong to AIADMK member Dakshnamoorthy from Madhavaram and another member named Sampangi.
Despite this, the police stopped Sasikala and her convoy at Jujuvadi in Krishnagiri district, but her advocate Raja Senthoor Pandian immediately intervened in the matter. The police handed over a notice to the advocate. And while he accepted this, he stated that no legal action could be taken against Sasikala for using the AIADMK flag.
"We were prepared for all legal issues. When the police gave us the notice we made it clear that the matter of her membership in the AIADMK is now being handled by the court and that the police cannot interfere in the matter," he tells TNM. "I informed them about this clearly and we continued the journey," he adds.
Meanwhile, AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran has said that Sasikala will first be heading to late Chief Minister MG Ramachandran's residence in Ramapuram to pay her respects before heading to her niece's residence in T Nagar.
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