V K Sasikala pays tribute to late J Jayalalithaa after she was appointed as AIADMK General Secretary, at the burial spot were AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa was laid to rest, adjacent to the MGR Memorial in Chennai on Friday. (file photo) V K Sasikala pays tribute to late J Jayalalithaa after she was appointed as AIADMK General Secretary, at the burial spot were AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa was laid to rest, adjacent to the MGR Memorial in Chennai on Friday. (file photo)

Two months after her death, the Supreme Court on Monday said that it would pronounce its verdict in the corruption case against former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa within a week. Newly anointed AIADMK general secretary Sasikala Natarajan is also a co-accused in the case. Jayalalithaa was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act in 1996 for allegedly amassing unaccounted wealth. The Congress government in Karnataka moved the Supreme Court in 2015 after the state high court acquitted her in the case. A special court in Bengaluru had earlier in 2014 found her guilty and sentenced her to four years imprisonment along with her close aide Sasikala. Jayalalithaa had to temporarily vacate the chief minister post, but stormed back to power in the 2016 assembly elections.

READ | Elected as AIADMK legislature party leader, Sasikala to be Tamil Nadu CM

With Sasikala being elected as AIADMK general secretary, a position held by Jayalalithaa for decades, expelled party MP Sasikala Pushpalata moved the Election Commission questioning the validity of her elevation as she is facing corruption charges. Sasikala is set to take over as the state chief minister, with O Pannerselvam resigning from the post “citing personal reasons”. In a series of tweets, the AIADMK quoted Sasikala as saying: “It was Thiru O Panneerselvam who insisted first that I become the Chief Minister… Tamil Nadu government will follow the principles of Amma.” The party also said: “Respected Chinnamma assures that the Tamil Nadu government will always work towards the welfare of the people.”

She will become the third woman to lead the government in Tamil Nadu after MGR’s wife Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalitha. Party sources said she was likely to be sworn in on Tuesday or Thursday. Reacting to the development, DMK working president and Leader of Opposition M K Stalin said the elevation of Sasikala was against the “wishes” of both Jayalalithaa and “expectations of the people”.

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