After former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa passed away in December 2016, her bungalow Poes Garden had turned into a subject of a political slugfest.
Now, when the Tamil Nadu government plans to acquire “Veda Nilayam”, the Poes Garden residence of the late AIADMK supremo, there is much to read between the lines. The State government, headed by Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), had deposited Rs 67.9 crore with a civil court as a compensation for taking over “Veda Nilayam”, bought by Jayalalithaa’s actor-mother Vedavalli known as Sandhya on the screen reportedly for Rs 1.32 lakh in 1967.
The state government plans to make the sprawling bungalow in 24,322 sq feet area a memorial of its leader who stayed in the house for decades with her friend and AIADMK General Secretary Sasikala Natarajan. Jayalalithaa had suspended her loyalist from the home in 2012 after she allegedly hatched conspiracy against her. Sasikala managed to re-enter later.
Sasikala is now serving her four-year prison term at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru. She was imprisoned after being convicted in the case accumulating wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income. Jayalalithaa, the main accused in the case, died before the apex court gave its verdict.
Expecting to be released from prison sometime next month, Sasikala is aiming to take back control of Poes Garden and other properties that the two had shared. The EPS government has inputs that she will directly enter “Veda Nilayam” than heading elsewhere after the release.
The petition filed by the Poes Garden residents and Deepa Jayakumar claiming to move to the Supreme Court against the takeover of “Veda Nilayam” by the State government is seen as Sasikala’s strategy. The Madras High Court has declared Deepa, Jayalalithaa’s niece, as one of her legal heirs.
Deepa’s statement endorses Sasikala’s plan from prison. She and her brother Deepak Jayakumar are unanimous in their view that “Veda Nilayam” cannot be taken over by the government, she asserted. Deepak is Sasikala’s close confident, who almost became the State chief minister in February 2017.
Sasikala had brought him to Marina beach to perform the former chief minister’s last rites. Deepak, who had been in touch with Sasikala in the prison, has moved a petition in the Madras High Court seeking access to “Veda Nilayam”.
EPS was handpicked by Sasikala amidst opposition from senior leader O Panneerselvam (OPS), currently Deputy Chief Minister, to become the Chief Minister. EPS switched over the camp. EPS and OPS are united now.
The move of EPS government is seen as strengthening its bid to deny any space for Sasikala to carry out her political drills against the AIADMK and turn the house into a hub of activities of those opposed to EPS and his government.
