The AIADMK on Monday called upon its workers to light lamps on Wednesday on the occasion of the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, and take a pledge to safeguard the party.

In a statement, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Chief Minister and co-coordinator, and O. Panneerselvam, Deputy Chief Minister and coordinator, said the party’s adversaries and enemies had begun working together with a view to defeating the AIADMK in the Assembly elections, which would be held in a few months. “We have to teach a big lesson to these enemies of the people by defeating them through hard work, determination, sense of unity and affection towards the public and loyalty,” they said, calling upon volunteers to light the lamps at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

The appeal assumed importance in the light of V.K. Sasikala, former interim general secretary and aide of Jayalalithaa, declaring a few weeks ago during her return to Chennai after her four-year imprisonment in Bengaluru, she would like to play an active role in politics and her nephew and the AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran stating that Ms. Sasikala would carry on the legal battle to regain her control over the AIADMK.