Will Not Give Up Poes Garden, Says Jayalalithaa's Niece Deepa

The battle for Jayalalithaa's physical legacy took an interesting twist after Deepa Jayakumar, the niece of Jayalalithaa, today asserted that she would under no circumstances give up her legal claim over Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence, which the Tamil Nadu government has said would be converted into a memorial.

“I do not know how they could make an announcement like that without even consulting us.  My brother Deepak and I are my aunt’s only surviving blood relatives and the rightful heirs to her property. The government did not even serve us a notice asking for our views,” Deepa told a press met on Thursday evening. She said she would vehemently oppose the government’s takeover of the bungalow.

Saying she wanted to preserve Poes Garden in the memory of her aunt Deepa said that she would go even up to the Supreme Court to protect her rightful claim to the property.

“They have made this announcement only to hasten the merger of the two factions. They had time since February when Pannneerselvam first made the demand. Why did they not make any moves then?” she asked.

While welcoming the probe into Jayalalithaa’s death Deepa said that even this should have been done much earlier when the suspicion about her aunt’s death was fresh in the minds of the public. “At least now I hope they will get to the truth behind my aunt’s death,” she said.  While welcoming the merger of the two factions she hoped that they would stay steadfast in keeping the Sasikala family out of any kind of arrangement.

Deepa’s objection could put spokes in the Government’s plans to convert Poes Garden into a memorial unless she accepts some kind of compensation.

Meanwhile DMK spokesperson K.S. Radhakrishnan questioned how could the government spend public money to put up a memorial for someone convicted by the Supreme Court.