The sisterly relationship between Jayalalithaa and her close aide Sasikala Natarajan has hit the headlines many times. The relationship has seen both ups and downs. According to the story, Sasikala was introduced to Jayalalithaa by IAS officer-turned-politician VS Chandralekha. It is heard that she hired Sasikala's husband, R Natarajan as her PRO.
When Jayalalithaa entered politics in 1980, her closeness with Sasikala grew and soon the Mannargudi-based family took charge of her personal needs, eventually later she became her confidant. Jayalalithaa even declared Sasikala as her soulful sister. Things turned sour during the grand wedding of Sasikala's nephew Sudhakaran with Sathyalakshmi, the granddaughter of actor Sivaji Ganesan, which caught the eyeballs of many and the lavish spend gave rise to many allegations.
In 1996, after losing the elections, Sasikala was arrested for violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), followed by a slew of corruption allegations. Soon, Jayalalithaa distanced herself from the Manargudi family but eventually they patched up. Then came the Tansi land deal, which alleged that Jaya Publications and Sasi Enterprises brought 3.78-acre of land from TANSI for a lower value, incurring a heavy loss for the government. Soon, Jayalalithaa fired Sasikala, Natarajan and 12 of their relatives from the party but that couldn't last for more than 100 days.
Today, Sasikala continues to be the close aide of the late CM. According to Television Channels, Jaya's most beloved Poes Garden house and Kodanadu Bungalow will go to Sasikala's family and his nephew Vivek will reportedly perform the last rites. After all, they were the unseparated soul sisters of Tamil Nadu.
