AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP Sasikala Pushpa was expelled from the party on Monday, two days after she got into a scuffle with DMK MP Trichy Siva at the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi.
In a statement released by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK General Secretary, Jayalalithaa, she said Sasikala had been expelled for “going against the party's aims and rules, causing disrepute and going against the party orders, and for acting in ways that go against the party's interests and principles.”
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on the incident, Sasika said she had aplogised to Trichy Siva and he had accepted her apology.
Breaking down in the House, Sasikala alleged, "my life is under threat” and was “being compelled to resign from my constitutional post by my party leader. I will not do it. I will not do it.”
Following a ruckus in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said that if Sasikala believed her life was under threat, she should write to the Chairman.
Both Siva and Sasikala were on the same flight to Chennai from New Delhi on Saturday. The incident reportedly took place before they boarded the flight, while waiting for security clearance.
Both Trichy Siva and Sasikala Pushpa had been summoned by their respective leaders on Sunday to explain what happened at the airport.
Hailing from Thoothukudi, Sasikala Pushpa has been a Rajya Sabha MP since April 2014. Her term is set to expire in 2020.
Note: Sasikala is not to be confused with her namesake, Jayalalithaa's confidante.