A day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest that eventually took her life, expelled AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP L Sasikala Pushpa lashed out at the party supremo's aide Sasikala Natarajan.

The two Sasikalas, with whom Jayalalithaa had a roller-coaster relationship, continued to spar even when the AIADMK chief's health condition was pushed back to being "very critical".

Read: Jayalalithaa dead, Tamil Nadu on edge, shockwaves across India

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SASIKALA PUSHPA

Talking to India Today, Sasikala Pushpa accused Sasikala Natarajan of "foul play" and questioned the need for convening of party MLAs today when she was recovering well. Raising questions over the MLAs' meet, she alleged that some "unconstitutional authorities" including Sasikala Natarajan may have a hand in it.

She alleged that in 2011, Jayalalithaa had spoken of a conspiracy hatched by Sasikala Natarajan to harm the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. Sasikala Pushpa suspected of a foul play in the current situation as well. She based her suspicion on nobody being allowed to visit Jayalalithaa for the last two months. She requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to shift the chief minister to AIIMS in the national capital.

Sasikala Pushpa was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2014 when she was the Mayor of Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi. However, she was expelled from AIADMK August 1, 2016 for slapping DMK MP Tiruchi Siva at Delhi IGI airport.

Her expulsion preceded some dramatic scenes in the Upper House. She alleged that there was a threat to her life, though she did not name anyone. She also alleged that she was under pressure to quit from the Rajya Sabha.

Sasikala Pushpa, who was accused of sexual assault along with her husband and son by her domestic help, said she could not tolerate Tiruchi Siva's passing uncharitable remarks about the AIADMK. Minutes after Sasikala Pushpa made the sensational allegation, the AIADMK announced her expulsion for "bringing a bad name" to the party by slapping Tiruchi Siva. Sasikala Pushpa later apologised to the DMK MP for the incident.

Later, in October, while Jayalalithaa was in the hospital for treatment, Sasikala Pushpa, in a letter to Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao expressed apprehension that someone close to the chief minister might forge her signature to nominate a deputy in her absence.

The letter came at a time when Jayalalithaa's confidante Sasikala Natrajan was being widely projected as party's de facto in-charge. She alleged that Sasikala Natarajan, in the name of Jayalalithaa, was "controlling all the officers in the state and trying to gain power within the party".

The expelled AIADMK MP also accused state government officials of working under the influence of a certain party leader rather than the chief minister. She also demanded a CBI inquiry into the health condition of Jayalalithaa.

SASIKALA NATARAJAN

Sasikala Natarajan is considered a close confidante of Jayalalithaa. She is accused to have wielded immense power and amassed unaccounted wealth during the last three tenures of Jayalalithaa as chief minister. On December 7, 1996, she was arrested along with Jayalalithaa in the Colour TV scam. However, the Supreme Court acquitted them as the charges were found to be baseless.

Sasikala Natarajan was sentenced in the TANSI land acquisition case along with Jayalalitha by a trial court to two years' rigorous imprisonment. However, she later acquitted by the Madras High Court.

On 19 December 2011, Jayalalithaa expelled disowned foster son V N Sudhakaran, Sasikala Natarajan and 13 others including her husband Natarajan and other relatives from the AIADMK. However, Jayalalithaa admitted Sasikala Natarajan back into the party on March 31, 2012. This was only after Sasikala Natarajan pledged to sever her ties with all her relatives and to serve without nursing any public ambitions.

On September 27, 2014, Sasikala along with Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years' imprisonment by a special court in Bangalore. While Jayalalithaa was asked to pay a fine of Rs 100 crore, Sasikala Natarajan was ordered to pay Rs 10 crore. However, they were acquitted by High Court.

When Jayalalithaa was sent back to the ICU of Apollo Hospital in Chennai, Sasikala Natarajan was managing her affairs, while the other Sasikala was venting her ire and leveling serious allegations on her name sake.

Also read: Expelled AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP Sasikala Pishpa makes releases a video, embarrases party

Also read: AIADMK MP Sasikala slaps DMK MP Siva at Delhi's IGI airport

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