As keenly anticipated and monitored, the pressure has started building up and the nerves have started cracking up. This is quite common when chickens come home to roost.
As a proverbial expression it's half a millennium old. The older fuller form was “curses are like chickens; they always come home to roost”, meaning that your offensive words or actions are likely at some point to rebound on you. This is what exactly has happened to the once-most powerful family in Tamil Nadu, the Mannargudi family.
What might happen now? More skeletons might tumble out. That is the hope and prayer of the people of Tamil Nadu.
Though claimed almost every day by T.T.V. Dinakaran (the ousted deputy general secretary and the nephew of jailed leader V.K.
Sasikala Natarajan) that they have seen jails even 20 years ago, this is probably the worst period in the three-decade old political journey of the Mannargudi family, often branded as “Mannargudi mafia”.
I should admit that even the Sicilian families bound by the “omerta”, which is a code of honour that places importance on silence, non-cooperation with authorities, and non-interference in the illegal actions of others, might pale into insignificance when compared to the Mannargudi family.
A long-time DMK member from Mannargudi said: "They wield all the power, control everything and yet no one can raise a finger and say they are doing it."
“They are everywhere,” says a seasoned IPS officer requesting anonymity, “very manipulative, and try to manage everything. Their men are everywhere from Jaya TV to Ministers’ offices, and have stooges in police and IAS, top to bottom.”
Even the party is tacitly controlled by the cartel, with key posts and election tickets influenced by the Sasikala family.
An insider says that to monitor the entire operation, Sasikala’s family has its men - mostly from the Kallar community - placed at strategic positions, including all Cabinet Ministers’ offices. Further, they have their eyes and ears among the bureaucrats and the state cadre too. Thus omerta has been preserved for the past 30 years.
But the family was all along protected by the party’s guardian angel Jayalalithaa. Though Sasikala has also claimed that she has seen both the Chennai and Bengaluru jails, it was in the company of Jayalalithaa and not alone.
It is true that Jayalalithaa, known for her temper, herself took it out on the family of Sasikala immediately after expelling all of them in 2011 from the party and her bungalow. Even Sasikala’s husband M. Natarajan was put behind the bars.
Despite such a humiliation, Sasikala managed to worm back into Veda Nilayam tendering an open apology and also promising "akka" that she would not have any truck with anyone not liked by her.
But who were the people who stood around Jayalalithaa's body on Dec 6, 2016, when it was lying in state at Rajaji Hall ? It is the main dramatis personae of the Mannargudi family who were banished by Jayalalithaa. Most interestingly, Sasikala was there first to be condoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and she partook even in the funeral rites of the former Chief Minister with the entire world watching it.
Now “when sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions” prophesied Shakespeare in Hamlet, 1602. See the pathetic condition in which the family is placed at present.
Three important members of the family - Sasikala, her sister-in-law Ilavarasi and nephew and former foster son of Jayalalithaa V.N. Sudhagaran are in Bengaluru jail doing a 4-year-term since February this year in the 20-year-long disproportionate assets case.
Though Jayalalithaa was the prime accused, the charges against her abated because of her demise.
Sasikala’s husband Natarajan, who had two major surgeries of liver and kidney, has to now undergo a two-year prison term in connection with a case of tax evasion when he imported a luxury car in 1994.
Sasikala’s sister's son-in-law R. Baskaran, a former RBI official and his wife, have to undergo a term of 5 years and 3 years respectively as the appellate court had confirmed the sentence in another disproportionate assets case.
Dinakaran, her most favourite nephew who is acting as her general in the current political turmoil in Tamil Nadu, is already embroiled in a FERA case. He was in a Delhi jail for about a month after being charged with attempting to bribe some officials of the Election Commission. His purported conduit Sukesh Chandrasekhar has been in police custody for the past few months.
After all such blows come the 5-day long IT raids on the 187 premises of Sasikala’s kin from November 9. The total unaccounted assets unravelled are suspected to be about Rs. 1,430 crores. And, innumerable documents recovered by the IT sleuths are yet to be scrutinised. More than 70 shell firms used to launder funds have also been unearthed, 15 banks accounts frozen and a number of bank lockers sealed.
On top of these was the latest IT raid on the iconic bungalow of Jayalalithaa on November 17, due to the “input” from highly reliable insiders. The very focus of the raid is the four rooms used by Sasikala and the one used by Jayalalithaa’s personal assistant Poongoondran. Whether this is going to yield anything worthwhile or not, but has sent shockwaves all over Tamil Nadu.
The final nail is the decision of Karnataka to investigate whether Rs. 2 crore bribe was paid by the Sasikala camp to get her some "freedom" in the Bengaluru jail.
To top it all, TASMAC has stopped procuring liquor from the Midas Golden Distillery owned by Sasikala and her kin.
What is the net result of these raids and of course, the current pathetic condition of the Mannargudi family?
Sasikala’s family on Saturday (Nov 18) sought to blame Jayalalithaa for having left her close aide without any protection after her death.
Even the most powerful person like Sasikala’s brother “Boss” Dhivakaran has started indulging in a blame game.
He told the media at Mannargudi that Sasikala had been under “observation” since 1996 and she had not been spared even for a single day, “not even when Jayalalithaa was around”.
In fact, Jayalalithaa fully utilized Sasi when she was alive but left her unguarded, Dhivakaran alleged.
“Imagine the plight of a person who executed everything that her master told her to and is finally left to fend for herself when the master is gone. This is the plight of Sasikala now and people have got to learn a lesson from her story”, he expatiated.
What does he mean ? Does it mean that all the charges of irregularities and financial improprieties levelled against Sasikala are because she was acting at the behest of Jayalalithaa?
Does he mean to say that even shell firms were launched by Sasikala only as per the dictates of Jayalalithaa? And, how about the mountains of ill-gotten money? Are they also as per the wishes and blessings of Jayalalithaa?
That Jayalalithaa did not provide Sasikala with a security cover after her demise is the big issue now, he said.
Mr. Dinakaran, who has all along been singing only the paeans of Jayalalithaa, also suddenly changed track. He pointed out that Sasikala, Ilavarasi and V.N. Sudhakaran are in jail now because they were with “amma”.
Out of the 46 cases filed in 1996, the prime accused was “amma” (in the disproportionate assets case), he added.
Asked if it was right for him and his followers to say Sasikala and her family were suffering after Jayalalithaa’s death, Dinakaran said “we are not saying it. Everyone knows it”.
Of course, the very next day, Mr. Dinakaran tried to downplay what Dhivakaran has alleged against Jayalalitha calling it” an emotional outburst” due to “sibling affection.”
Of course, Dinakaran and his cohorts continue to claim that all the raids smack of "political vendetta", and they are not scared.
They also assert that they were more sinned against than sinning. Will even the most ardent AIADMK volunteer buy it ?
As a proverbial expression it's half a millennium old. The older fuller form was “curses are like chickens; they always come home to roost”, meaning that your offensive words or actions are likely at some point to rebound on you. This is what exactly has happened to the once-most powerful family in Tamil Nadu, the Mannargudi family.
What might happen now? More skeletons might tumble out. That is the hope and prayer of the people of Tamil Nadu.
Though claimed almost every day by T.T.V. Dinakaran (the ousted deputy general secretary and the nephew of jailed leader V.K.
Sasikala Natarajan) that they have seen jails even 20 years ago, this is probably the worst period in the three-decade old political journey of the Mannargudi family, often branded as “Mannargudi mafia”.
I should admit that even the Sicilian families bound by the “omerta”, which is a code of honour that places importance on silence, non-cooperation with authorities, and non-interference in the illegal actions of others, might pale into insignificance when compared to the Mannargudi family.
A long-time DMK member from Mannargudi said: "They wield all the power, control everything and yet no one can raise a finger and say they are doing it."
“They are everywhere,” says a seasoned IPS officer requesting anonymity, “very manipulative, and try to manage everything. Their men are everywhere from Jaya TV to Ministers’ offices, and have stooges in police and IAS, top to bottom.”
Even the party is tacitly controlled by the cartel, with key posts and election tickets influenced by the Sasikala family.
An insider says that to monitor the entire operation, Sasikala’s family has its men - mostly from the Kallar community - placed at strategic positions, including all Cabinet Ministers’ offices. Further, they have their eyes and ears among the bureaucrats and the state cadre too. Thus omerta has been preserved for the past 30 years.
But the family was all along protected by the party’s guardian angel Jayalalithaa. Though Sasikala has also claimed that she has seen both the Chennai and Bengaluru jails, it was in the company of Jayalalithaa and not alone.
It is true that Jayalalithaa, known for her temper, herself took it out on the family of Sasikala immediately after expelling all of them in 2011 from the party and her bungalow. Even Sasikala’s husband M. Natarajan was put behind the bars.
Despite such a humiliation, Sasikala managed to worm back into Veda Nilayam tendering an open apology and also promising "akka" that she would not have any truck with anyone not liked by her.
But who were the people who stood around Jayalalithaa's body on Dec 6, 2016, when it was lying in state at Rajaji Hall ? It is the main dramatis personae of the Mannargudi family who were banished by Jayalalithaa. Most interestingly, Sasikala was there first to be condoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and she partook even in the funeral rites of the former Chief Minister with the entire world watching it.
Now “when sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions” prophesied Shakespeare in Hamlet, 1602. See the pathetic condition in which the family is placed at present.
Three important members of the family - Sasikala, her sister-in-law Ilavarasi and nephew and former foster son of Jayalalithaa V.N. Sudhagaran are in Bengaluru jail doing a 4-year-term since February this year in the 20-year-long disproportionate assets case.
Though Jayalalithaa was the prime accused, the charges against her abated because of her demise.
Sasikala’s husband Natarajan, who had two major surgeries of liver and kidney, has to now undergo a two-year prison term in connection with a case of tax evasion when he imported a luxury car in 1994.
Sasikala’s sister's son-in-law R. Baskaran, a former RBI official and his wife, have to undergo a term of 5 years and 3 years respectively as the appellate court had confirmed the sentence in another disproportionate assets case.
Dinakaran, her most favourite nephew who is acting as her general in the current political turmoil in Tamil Nadu, is already embroiled in a FERA case. He was in a Delhi jail for about a month after being charged with attempting to bribe some officials of the Election Commission. His purported conduit Sukesh Chandrasekhar has been in police custody for the past few months.
After all such blows come the 5-day long IT raids on the 187 premises of Sasikala’s kin from November 9. The total unaccounted assets unravelled are suspected to be about Rs. 1,430 crores. And, innumerable documents recovered by the IT sleuths are yet to be scrutinised. More than 70 shell firms used to launder funds have also been unearthed, 15 banks accounts frozen and a number of bank lockers sealed.
On top of these was the latest IT raid on the iconic bungalow of Jayalalithaa on November 17, due to the “input” from highly reliable insiders. The very focus of the raid is the four rooms used by Sasikala and the one used by Jayalalithaa’s personal assistant Poongoondran. Whether this is going to yield anything worthwhile or not, but has sent shockwaves all over Tamil Nadu.
The final nail is the decision of Karnataka to investigate whether Rs. 2 crore bribe was paid by the Sasikala camp to get her some "freedom" in the Bengaluru jail.
To top it all, TASMAC has stopped procuring liquor from the Midas Golden Distillery owned by Sasikala and her kin.
What is the net result of these raids and of course, the current pathetic condition of the Mannargudi family?
Sasikala’s family on Saturday (Nov 18) sought to blame Jayalalithaa for having left her close aide without any protection after her death.
Even the most powerful person like Sasikala’s brother “Boss” Dhivakaran has started indulging in a blame game.
He told the media at Mannargudi that Sasikala had been under “observation” since 1996 and she had not been spared even for a single day, “not even when Jayalalithaa was around”.
In fact, Jayalalithaa fully utilized Sasi when she was alive but left her unguarded, Dhivakaran alleged.
“Imagine the plight of a person who executed everything that her master told her to and is finally left to fend for herself when the master is gone. This is the plight of Sasikala now and people have got to learn a lesson from her story”, he expatiated.
What does he mean ? Does it mean that all the charges of irregularities and financial improprieties levelled against Sasikala are because she was acting at the behest of Jayalalithaa?
Does he mean to say that even shell firms were launched by Sasikala only as per the dictates of Jayalalithaa? And, how about the mountains of ill-gotten money? Are they also as per the wishes and blessings of Jayalalithaa?
That Jayalalithaa did not provide Sasikala with a security cover after her demise is the big issue now, he said.
Mr. Dinakaran, who has all along been singing only the paeans of Jayalalithaa, also suddenly changed track. He pointed out that Sasikala, Ilavarasi and V.N. Sudhakaran are in jail now because they were with “amma”.
Out of the 46 cases filed in 1996, the prime accused was “amma” (in the disproportionate assets case), he added.
Asked if it was right for him and his followers to say Sasikala and her family were suffering after Jayalalithaa’s death, Dinakaran said “we are not saying it. Everyone knows it”.
Of course, the very next day, Mr. Dinakaran tried to downplay what Dhivakaran has alleged against Jayalalitha calling it” an emotional outburst” due to “sibling affection.”
Of course, Dinakaran and his cohorts continue to claim that all the raids smack of "political vendetta", and they are not scared.
They also assert that they were more sinned against than sinning. Will even the most ardent AIADMK volunteer buy it ?