Did Gujarat CM Modi help Jaya get rid of Sasikala ‘s mafia?

Did Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi play a key role to help Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa ward off a possible palace coup engineered by close aide Sasikala with her cronies?

Modi is known to enjoy a close rapport with the AIADMK supremo. Jaya is highly appreciative of Gujarat model of development under Modi’s guidance. There is speculation that it was Modi’s advice that saved Jayalalithaa from the Mannargudi Mafia”. Modi had also reportedly helped his Tamil Nadu counterpart with identifying a personal doctor or nurse and an assistant from Gujarat.

A recent report by the news magazine Tehelka fueled speculation in Ahmedabad and Chennai that Modi was behind a tip-off that led to the ouster of Tamil NaduCM Jayalalithaa's most trusted friend and confidante Sasikala from her party and home last December.

Tehelka reported that Modi, a personal friend of Jayalalithaa for over two decades, told the TN CM that Sasikala and her family, referred to as the Mannargudi Mafia (after Sasikala's village), had unprecedented interference in government affairs so much so that investors were reluctant to invest in Tamil Nadu because of the hefty commission they demanded. Jayalalithaaa apparently acted on the tip-off and found disturbing evidence that Sasikala, her husband Natarajan, and their assorted relatives, had immense control over government affairs and were planning a 'palace coup'.

She acted swiftly to expel them from her party and home and also started cleansing her government and bureaucracy of Sasikala loyalists, a process that is still going on.

While there is a steely silence that greets any questions in this direction both in Chennai and Gandhinagar, according to a source in the intelligence department a Gujarati nurse, believed to be deputed by Modi, reportedly even found that food and fruits the TN CM was provided with at home, were laced with sedatives. The cooks appointed by Sasikala are believed to be responsible for this. This led to another purge, this time at Jayalalithaa's home in Poes Garden, in which all personal security and household staff hired by Sasikala were sacked.

"That day onwards the Chief Minister takes food made and given to her under the watchful eyes of the Gujarati woman," said a source. The Tehelka report refers to Poes Garden household staff coming under suspicion, saying it was found "that she was being given sedatives and chemical substances that had small quantities of poison."

- Asian Tribune -

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