India's regional party elects Tamil Nadu's late chief minister's aide as party head

India's regional AIADMK party Thursday elected the late chief minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa's close aide Sasikala Natarajan as the political outfit's new chief.

The 60-year-old will formally take over as Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK party's general secretary on Jan. 2, 2017, the top post held by Jayalalithaa till her death on Dec. 5, following a prolonged illness.

"Like we saw MGR (former actor-turned-Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran) in Jayalalithaa, we see Jayalalithaa in Sasikala," Tamil Nadu's new Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam told the media in the state capital of Chennai.

Jayalalithaa, the most powerful woman in Tamil Nadu politics, was popularly known as "Amma" (mother) among her supporters.

From a homemaker to a trusted friend of Jayalalithaa, it has been a long and dramatic journey for Sasikala. During Jayalalithaa's three tenures as Tamil Nadu's chief minister, Sasikala is alleged to have wielded absolute power behind the scenes.

She was arrested, along with Jayalalithaa, in December 1996 and was remanded to judicial custody for 30 days, in connection with a corruption scandal. But Sasikala had always been on Amma's side during all her ups and downs in life.

Experts say after Jayalalithaa's death, Sasikala has been calling the shots in the party as well as the government, and her becoming AIADMK's general secretary will only help strengthen the party that recently got people's mandate to govern the state for another five years. Endit