Chennai, March 28 (IANS) In an apparent reconciliation move, a former aide to J. Jayalalithaa said Wednesday that she wants to keep serving the Tamil Nadu chief minister.

V.K. Sasikala said she never dreamt of betraying the trust the former reposed in her and it had shocked her that her relatives had misused the AIADMK leader’s position.
Sasikala said in a statement that she had severed her connections with her relatives and those who thought of betraying Jayalalithaa cannot be pardoned.
She traced her association with Jayalalithaa since 1984 and said that she had lived in the actor-turned-politician’s Poes Garden residence since 1988.
“I wanted to reduce the work burden of Jayalalithaa. I did not have any hidden agenda except serving Jayalalithaa. She accepted me as her younger sister,” Sasikala said.
According to Sasikala, it was only in December after Jayalalithaa cracked down on her family members she realized that her relatives and friends had misused the chief minister’s status.
In December, Jayalalithaa sacked Sasikala and several others from the basic membership of the party without giving any reason.
Jayalalithaa told party members not to have any contact with the lot.
Later, police started acting on complaints against the relatives of Sasikala.
Her husband M. Natarajan and some close relatives were arrested on several charges.