A letter written by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and one Minister Arumugam Thondaman on the fishermen issue and addressed to former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's close aide VK Sasikalaa was lost in the din of cyclone Vardah according to Times Of India.

The Sri Lankan President conceding to a request from "Mrs Sasikala" to permit 100 Tamil Nadu fishermen to attend the Katchatheevu church festival could be her first political "achievement".

The Lankan government had initially agreed to allow only 20 fishermen to attend the consecration ceremony of the newly-constructed St Antony's Church in Kachchativu Islet.

On December 7, a day after the funeral of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Sri Lankan minister for livestock and rural community Development Arumugam Thondaman, accompanied by his nephew and chief minister of Uva Province Senthil Thondaman, called on Sasikalaa at the Poes Garden bungalow with a message of condolence from President Sirisena.

"Mrs Sasikalaa wanted us to pass on her request to our President about increasing the number of fishermen to be permitted to take part in the church ceremony. We informed the President about her request," Senthil Thondaman, who is currently on a visit to Tamil Nadu, told TOI. In a gesture of goodwill and friendship, the President agreed to increase the number from 20 to 100, he said.

Referring to Sasikalaa's request for an increase in the number of fishermen who could participate in the church ceremony, Arumugam Thondaman said, "I discussed the above with our President and I am happy to state that he has granted approval of your request."

While the official letters from the President and Arumugam Thondaman were handed over to Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam in his office at the state secretariat, they were addressed to 'Mrs Sasikalaa, No 1, Poes Garden, Chennai - 68'. This is the first acknowledgement from a section of the international community of Sasikalaa's importance in Tamil Nadu politics post-Jayalalithaa. 

OPS had quietly handed over the letter to Sasikalaa. 

It has now been leaked on social media.

With a huge Sri Lankan Tamil refugee population in the state and a fishermen issue with the island nation that refuses to die down, the state's relations with Sri Lanka is crucial. Sasikalaa's quick thinking in using the visit by the Sri Lankan dignitaries to press on the fishermen issue has come in for praise from her supporters. 

"The gesture could win us the loyalty of the fishing community ," said a senior AIADMK leader, seeking anonymity.