Hours after Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami made the announcement of transforming J Jayalalithaa's residence into a memorial, former chief minister's niece Deepa Jayakumar on Thursday said the government had no right to make such declarations without consulting her and her brother. Deepa also added that the property belonged to her and her brother Deepak and hence, they are the legal heir. "They have no right to announce this without consulting legal heirs, that is me and my brother. I have moral, ethical and legal right over this house," she was quoted as saying by ANI. Veda Nilayam, the residence of Jayalalithaa was occupied by her till her hospitalisation in September last year. Post her death, her close aid, V K Sasikala lived there until she was jailed in a disproportionate assets case. Both Deepa and Deepak have been constantly trying to cement themselves as Amma's true heir after Jayalalithaa's death. She had also tried to stake claim over Amma's assets. Recently, Deepa and her supporters had staged a protest outside Poes Garden, alleging that she was assaulted and denied entry into the residence by the supporters of TTV Dhinakaran. Incidentally, her brother Deepak was present in the house when she arrived. Poes Garden, which is unoccupied now was thrown open to the public for a while earlier this year, but was soon closed down. Apart from turning the house into a memorial open for public, the Tamil Nadu government also announced a commission that would re-investigate the death of Jayalalithaa. Both the announcements were major demands raised by OPS and his supporters and come amid the reports of a proposed merger between two AIADMK factions led by Panneerselvam and Palaniswami. OPS had also launched a signature campaign to turn Veda Nilayam into a memorial, which received a good response from the public.
