Former chief minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa has left a will bequeathing her properties to her niece and nephew, her nephew Deepak Jayakumar has claimed.
Speculation about whether the former chief minister had died intestate or had left a will began right after Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016. There is also a growing demand to convert Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence into a memorial.
Breaking his silence over the issue, in a telephonic interview with The Hindu, Mr. Deepak said, “A will has been left by Jayalalithaa…for Deepa and Deepak.” When asked if she has left all her properties to the two of them, he said he had to present the document in the court “to pay the fine of ₹100 crore. Once it is done, we will know what will be left.” [The case having abated against Jayalalithaa in the disaproportionate assets case, the question of paying a fine does not arise, legal experts have said.]
Mr. Deepak also said no one in the party wanted T.T.V. Dinakaran as the deputy general secretary. “It is true that Sasikala becoming CM was not acceptable to people. But Mr. Dinakaran is not acceptable to anyone in the party,” he said.
‘AIADMK is OPS’ party’
He said it was unfair that people were saying the party would split since there were now two camps. “Who is OPS (Mr. Panneerselvam)? Why should we take him back? It is his party. He has been with the party since his days as a youngster. He hasn’t gone anywhere. The AIADMK is a democratic party unlike the DMK, and we are more like a family. Don’t all families fight and patch up?,” Mr. Deepak asked. He also said it was the dream of “people like Stalin who thought our party will split”, but the party will not break. “We have only one common enemy – the DMK.”
When asked about Sasikala’s statements accusing Mr. Panneerselvam of being backed by the DMK, Mr. Deepak said, “Sasikala athai (aunt) did say that. Lots of people said lot of things at that time and it ended up affecting Mr .Panneerselvam. But did he go out and use Karunanidhi’s picture for his rebellion? He is using Amma’s picture only. He is a total AIADMK man.” He further said that the party is capable of doing “damage control”. “We will take care of it. Why is everyone else bothered?”
