Tamil Nadu: Deepa Jayakumar stopped from entering Jayalalithaa Poes Garden residence after she stakes claim

Deepa Jayakumar, niece of former Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, was on Sunday, June 11, stopped from entering her aunt's Poes Garden residence in Chennai. Deepa had laid claim to the property, because Jayalalithaa had died a spinster and had reportedly not willed it to anyone. 

Deepa has already staked claim to Amma's political legacy, when she made her own political and electoral ambitions abundantly clear following the death of Jayalalithaa on December 6 last year. She was even slated to contest the now-cancelled RK Nagar Assembly byelections against Sasikala's nephew TTV Dinakaran, who is currently out on bail following his arrest over allegations that he tried to bribe an Election Commission official to get the Two Leaves poll symbol of the AIADMK for his faction of the party. 

Staking claim

Deepa Jayakumar has been seen by many as a political heir of Jayalalithaa, not just because they look similar but also because Deepa is the only one from Jayalalithaa's family who seems keen on following in Amma's footsteps. 

She took her claim as "heir" one step further on Sunday when she arrived at Jayalalithaa's residence  — accompanied by her husband and brother — at Poes Garden and laid claim to the property. She told reporters there: "My aunt's house should belong to me. I am her heir."

She then tried to enter the property, but was stopped by members of the security detail posted there since Jayalalithaa's death. Some reports claim that even civilians — allegedly supporters of TTV Dinakaran — also played a role in stopping Deepa and her posse from entering the residence, ostensibly to keep Sasikala's hold on the property intact. 

What happens to Sasikala?

Jayalalithaa's close aide Sasikala Natarajan, aka VK Sasikala, had tried to stake claim to Amma's legacy after her death, and the AIADMK had helped her to quite some extent back then. The biggest boost she had received was the moniker Chinnamma, which seemed to cement her position as successor of Jayalalithaa. 

Now, with Deepa coming up with a rival claim, Sasikala might just have a difficult task on her hand, made even harder by the fact that not only is she in jail right now but also that Dinakaran — who she had left on a top post within her faction of the AIADMK — is mired in controversies, including the bribery case against him.