The extravagant wedding consisted of 10 dining halls that could hold a capacity of 25,000 people state machinery was royally misused with the TNEB being used to supply power to the hall, Metrowater tankers used to supply seven lakh litres of water and government vehicles employed for transport. But more importantly, it gave rise to the infamous picture of Jayalalithaa and Sasikala dressed as twins, clad in garish golden-orange saris and decked in diamond splendour.
Jayalalithaa, who had adopted Sasikala's nephew Sudhakaran, announced his wedding (September 1995) to Sathyalakshmi, the granddaughter of actor Sivaji Ganesan - this naturally raised eyebrows. Rumours started flying around about Sasikala's corrupt practices of acquiring land in and around Chennai and Thanjavur, movable and immovable properties. Vaasanthi, in fact, dedicates a chapter to the duo (see The Woman Who Knew Too Much) where she writes that a section of Jayalalithaa's faithful supporters resented their very relationship - Jayalalithaa even declared Sasikala her "udanpiravaa sagodhari (sister not related through blood)" Sasikala and her relatives soon began to rein royal at the household, the press dubbed them the 'Mannargudi mafia'.
Soon, the Mannargudi-based Sasikala started taking charge around Jayalalithaa's house - this was during the time when MGR was hospitalised, writes Vaasanthi in Amma: Jayalalithaa’s Journey from Movie Star to Political Queen - and had become the latter's confidante.įile image of Jayalalithaa (centre) and Sasikala Natarajan (right). In the 1980s, when Jayalalithaa entered politics, the two grew reportedly close, with Sasikala even wanting to film a video of the "glamourous propaganda secretary" to sell at a huge profit, writes The Sunday Guardian. In fact, Jayalalithaa's relationships with MGR and Karunanidhi, which will merit two separate pieces altogether, have only been more frenzied, perhaps at times even less.Īs the story goes, the credit of introducing Sasikala to Jayalalithaa belongs to IAS officer-turned-politician VS Chandralekha, who hired Sasikala's husband, R Natarajan as her PRO. The relationship between J Jayalalithaa and her companion Sasikala Natarajan has been quite well-documented in the history of Tamil Nadu politics - it has been both tumultuous and rewarding for both of them alike.