Sasikala’s CM dreams might have ended but don’t write her off. Here’s why

VK Sasikala, who suddenly emerged as a heir to deceased AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's legacy, has a verdict against herself and it seems that this might end the political uncertainty in the state with the road now clear for O Panneerselvam to become the chief minister.

But it’s not going to be Panneerselvam as Sasikala cannot be written off entirely and her sentence would end in just four years. After that she can come back to haunt the party.

There are many reasons why the SC verdict may not be the end of Sasikala:

Sasikala will continue to have friends within the party even when she is in jail and OPS is the CM as she staged a putsch against Panneerselvam to replace him as Jayalalitha's political heir.

Rebels will keep rocking AIADMK as OPS can never have Jayalalithaa's mass appeal and the kind of control she had over the party. Sasikala will use this and can become the rallying point for these rebels.

Once out of the jail in four year, Sasikala will do everything to split the party.

This SC verdict may not be all bad for Sasikala as if Panneerselvam were able to lure majority party MLAs, it would have proved that party had no faith in Sasikala. The masses too would have accepted that but now the message that would go to the masses is-Sasikala has been stopped from heading the state by a court order but not due to lack of support in the party. Therefore, when she is back, she can still have popular support.

Sasikala has once proved to the people that she is Jayalalithaa's legitimate successor. And once these four years are over and she is out of jail, the situation in the state might be very conducive for her power play. OPS cannot have the mass support Jayalalithaa had so the party's base will only erode from now on. All this will help Sasikala project herself as the next mass leader.