chennai on a balmy september evening in 1995 streets in posh adyar took on a magical appearance for a big ticket wedding the stretch between the gandhi nagar vinayaka temple and the elite chettinad vidyashram school was decked up with serial lights the roads had a fresh black topping cutouts arches and palace facadesfollowing the groom on horseback were then cm j jayalalithaa and her udanpirava sahodari sister in spirit sasikalaa draped in heavy red silk saris gold and diamonds they walked nearly 2km to the baraat venue of jayas nowdisowned foster son v n sudhakaran it was a landmark event not just because it brought down aiadmks government in the 1996 election but also showcased the deep friendship between the cm and sasikalaher image as a selfeffacing woman who tirelessly served the aiadmk chief has stuck but sasikalaa 59 wife of natarajan better known as jayalalithaas confidante isnt just the poes garden bungalow manager once a video parlour operator shes the second most powerful woman in tns biggest partyit was sasikalaa who decided which partymen met jayalalithaa and when filtered petitions and took key decisions on party matters from sacking senior functionaries to appointing them many important functionaries from the obc thevar caste influential in the southern districts and to which she belongs got key posts in the early days sasikalaa a school dropout from mannargudi in thanjavur was a partner in some companies with jayalalithaa sasikalaa later claimed that these were mostly managed by her about four years ago sasikalaa fell from grace in december 2011 the cm banished sasikalaa and her clan from poes garden ordering partymen not to have anything to do with them while the ostensible reason was interference by the family in administrative and party matters there were reports of intelligence alerts going to jayalalithaa about a conspiracy to take control in the event of her being convicted in the disproportionate assets case four months later sasikalaa was back apologising profusely for her familys deviousness pleading that she wanted to continue to serve her friend jayalalithaa made public sasikalaas letter to her and took her back ever since she has risen higher indispensable in the aiadmk chiefs scheme of things her estranged husband m natarajan is an enigma even to his compatriots the government officer turned rich businessman keeps a low profile aiadmk grapevine has it that he was thrown out of poes garden after jayalalithaa learnt of his machinations to take over the party but insiders say he wields power by proxy maintaining a tacit relationship with sasikalaagiven his ability to ingratiate himself with the powers that be its rumoured he has contacts in rashtrapati bhavan jaya and sasikalaa are inseparable their friendship goes a long way with jayalalithaa having few relatives she is totally dependent on her friend says a former aiadmk minister there are rumours sasikalaa has already drawn up the candidate list for most constituencies with jayas blessings and she has even visited some temples with it