Sasikala on 5-day parole: No politics, no visitors

Chennai: Chinnamma arrived in Chennai on Friday night and was given an orchestrated welcome by her supporters. It was in no way comparable to the emotional welcome that her friend Jayalalithaa had received after being released from the same Parpana Agrahara jail in Oct 2014, but still it demonstrated that she holds control over a section of the party.

Sasikala will stay at the residence of Krishnapriya, daughter of her sister-in-law and jail mate Ilavarasi, in T. Nagar.  Sasikala’s five day stay in Chennai, to meet her husband M. Natarajan who underwent a double transplant, comes with conditions attached. The conditions are: she can stay only at the residence mentioned in her application; during this period she should not entertain any visitors either at her residence or at the hospital; she will not be involved in political or any other public activities or take part in party activities; and she should also not interact with any media.

Sasikala had stayed at the residence of Krishnapriya when Jayalalithaa banished her in 2011, only to return to Poes Garden within months. The posh Poes Garden bungalow, now under the control of the state government ahead of being converted into a memorial, is out of bounds for Chinnamma. She had left for jail from Jayalalithaa's famous residence. In view of the conditions it remains to be seen if nephew TTV Dhinakaran's 'sleeper cells' — MLAs, MPs and Ministers in the EPS camp--would be able to meet her. Already textiles minister O.S. Manian has stated he would meet Sasikala when she comes out of jail but that was before the parole conditions were publicised.

The city police is expected to closely monitor the paroled convict's movements and also those of her supporters. There is of course the odd chance of a meeting happening in one of the private rooms of the sprawling hospital. Since Chennai police is responsible for her security during her five day stay, a detachment of uniformed policemen, plainclothesmen and women cops have been deputed for guard duty, and close watch. If the Chennai police report that she violated any of the parole conditions, that could jeopardise future parole applications.

Even if Sasikala does not openly engage in any political activity her presence is expected to boost the morale of the TTV camp which has been at a low following the disqualification of 18 MLAs and failure to delay the Election Commission hearing in the symbol case. Since both the cases have been adjourned briefly with no outcome expected during Sasikala's stay, her brief outing to Chennai could even pass off without any major significance. But party functionaries aim to extract some political mileage during her short sojourn. "Since she has to commute between the T. Nagar residence and the hospital — about 20 km apart — we could organise enthusiastic reception along the way. That would not violate her parole conditions in any way. Our cadres would be thrilled to see Chinnamma after such a long gap," said a loyalist legislator.