Jaya niece, nephew fight it out at Poes Garden
The battle for palatial Veda Nilayam bungalow in upscale Poes Garden, once the most powerful address in Tamil Nadu where charismatic J. Jayalalithaa lived for more than four decades, began on Sunday and turned ugly almost immediately.
The late Chief Minister’s legal heirs — niece Deepa and nephew Deepak — were involved in a verbal duel inside and outside the Poes Garden residence on Sunday, which turned into a media spectacle.
High drama prevailed at the Poes Garden residence as Deepa, the daughter of late Jayalalithaa’s brother Jayakumar, arrived there at around 11 am on Sunday “on invitation” from her brother Deepak to garland the portrait of her late aunt.
But after she paid respects, a scuffle broke out between the two with Deepa later alleging that “but for the media presence, she would not have returned alive.” As she emerged out of the residence, she dramatically accused the Mannargudi clan of trying to “harm” her and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami of “doing nothing” to protect her.
Though Deepa claims her visit was “sudden”, sources said it seemed to be a plan by the late Jayalalithaa’s niece since some media organisations received a phone call from her aides saying that they were going to “claim” the property. “A conspiracy has been hatched to harm me and I think that is why my brother (Deepak) telephoned me at 4.30 am on Sunday and requested me to come to Poes Garden. Only after I went there, I realised it was a drama and the legal battle has begun. I have begun legal formalities to claim my stake in the Poes Garden residence,” Deepa said.
It appears that scuffle broke between the siblings when Deepa wanted to go inside the premises and Deepak objected to her move. Videos surfacing after the incident suggested that they exchanged barbs at each other and Deepa openly accused her younger sibling of “siding with Sasikala family just for the sake of money”.