Hours after AIADMK’s new de facto leader TTV Dinakaran formally took charge as deputy general secretary at the party headquarters, former chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s nephew raises banner of revolt; says the cadre will not like the move; stakes claim to his aunt’s properties, mainly her Poes Garden residence
CHENNAI: It’s now nephew vs nephew in the AIADMK. Hours after the new de facto leader of the AIADMK, TTV Dinakaran, formally took charge as deputy general secretary at the party headquarters on Thursday, late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s nephew Deepak Jayakumar raised a banner of revolt, questioning the move and staking claim to his aunt’s properties, particularly the palatial Poes Garden residence.
Dinakaran is the nephew of party’s interim general secretary VK Sasikala.
“The cadre will not like that,” said Deepak referring to Dinakaran’s appointment and the re-entry of the once influential Dr S Venkatesh, another relative of Sasikala who is now in prison.
Deepak also supported dethroned chief minister O Panneerselvam as a Jaya loyalist.
Yet, in a telephonic interview to an English news channel, Deepak maintained that he had no problem in accepting Sasikala’s leadership. But, he said Panneerselvam could be made the party leader. “Sasikala might have been forced to take the decision to elevate Dinakaran,” he told the channel.
He also opened the topic about Jaya’s properties, staking his and his sister Deepa’s claim over them. Veda Nilayam, Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence where she spent most part of her life, was purchased by her mother Sandhya. With Jaya leaving no legal heirs, the siblings have claimed right over the property.
“It is my grandmother’s property. The house must come to me and my sister. The property must go to the legal heirs,” he said.
Deepak expressed his wish to pay the Rs 100 crore fine that the Special Court in Bengaluru had awarded to Jayalalithaa in the Disproportionate Assets case, saying he might have to sell some properties to mobilise the required money.
The rumblings within the AIADMK has taken a curious turn with Deepak’s revolt. For, unlike Deepa whose fight against Sasikala and family began since she was not allowed to visit her aunt in deathbed, Deepak was believed to have been close to Sasikala’s family. He was by Sasikala’s side during Jayalalithaa’s burial.
This rebellion, hence, has taken the party leadership off-guard. Reacting to the development, party spokesperson and former minister Vaigai Selvan said, “Nobody can claim rights over Amma’s properties... Had there been a will, the properties may go as per the provisions in it. Otherwise, only our general secretary is authorised to decide,” he added.
Selvan said Dinakaran’s elevation was necessitated by the situation where Sasikala would not be available to run party. “This is a testing time for our party,” he reasoned.