Jaya memorial: Government summons Deepa for hearing

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday summoned Jayalalithaa's niece, Deepa Jayakumar, giving her an opportunity to hear her side on the conversion of Veda Nilayam, the former CM's residence in Poes Garden, into a memorial. Deepa, however, did not appear and instead sought another date through her advocate.
In a letter dated October 27, Tamil development and information (memorials) secretary R Venkatesan directed Deepa to appear before chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan in the latter's chamber on Tuesday at 3pm.Madras high court has already asked the state to dispose of her petition (against conversion) within a period of four weeks, after giving her due opportunity of hearing.
Jayalalithaa's niece said she would not change her stand against the conversion of the former CM's residence. "First of all, there is no will. My aunt has not left behind anything in writing. In her lifetime, she never mentioned anywhere that she wished her residence to be converted into a memorial. She always insisted that her house belonged to the family and she was very attached to it," Deepa told TOI. In August, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced the plan, one of the key demands of the OPS camp ahead of the merger.
"It is against her (Jayalalithaa) will. If at all they do that, it is against her wishes. That is reason enough to stop that. It is to preserve my family heritage and that is my intention," Deepa said. On Tuesday, she nominated her lawyer, who took up her case in the high court, to seek a different date for appearance as she was away from the city for a while.