While heavyweights like Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, AIADMK presidium chairman E Madhusudanan, powerful Gounder community’s leader K A Sengottayan and Lok Sabha deputy chairman M Thambidurai have been rallying around former party supremo Jayalalithaa’s companion Sasikala Natarajan to make her as party’s General Secretary and thus `surrender leadership’, it seems she has to face many hurdles.

The suspended Rajya Sabha member of the party Sasikala Pushpa today questioned how a non-member would be made as chief functionary of the party? It may be recalled that Jayalalithaa herself had expelled Sasikala and other members of her family and relatives from the primary membership of the party. Though later she `excused’ her and allowed to her home, she didn’t revoked expulsion. Technically, presently she is not member of the party.

Further, she alleged that senior leaders extending support to her due to `inevitable circumstances’, as they are being threatened by Sasikala’s family members. She warned if she is made as the party chief, she would be a dummy by transferring all the affairs to her husband Natarajana, who is known as a `power broker’ in the political circles.

Announcing that she would continue her fight till her last breath against Sasikala’s dominance in the party, the MP announced that soon she will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Election Commissioner seeking their intervention in this regard.

Refuting Sasikala’s claims for party `ownership’ due to her 35 years of `service’ to `Amma’, she questioned that is it possible for her to transfer her Rajya Sabha membership to her servant maid, who is also working at her house since 25 years ? Urging party leadership to elect a senior party leader to head the party, she warned that even party senior leaders accepted her due to `compulsions’, party cadre and people at large cannot accept Sasikala as a successor to Jayalalithaa.