Two days after the death of Jayalalithaa, as people still throng the Marina beach to lay wreath on her memorial and pay homage to her, social media is abuzz with several questions. Why did Sasikala perform the last rites? Why was Jayalalithaa's nephew Deepak Jayakumar called to accompany Sasikala to perform the rituals? Why wasn’t his sister Deepa not let in even to pay homage to her aunt? Who will inherit her properties? Who will carry on her legacy?
All these questions remain unanswered like the way the questions about her actual illness went unanswered during the 75 days of her stay at Apollo.
The moment Jayalalithaa’s lifeless body was taken to Veda Nilayam in Poes Garden at 2.55 am on December 6, the gates of the mighty bungalow were closed. Sources in the know say that all the final rituals as per the Iyengar tradition were performed and Deepak Jayakumar, her nephew alone was let in. As the AIADMK men shouted outside hailing their Amma, rituals went on inside the Poes Garden residence, the house that she inherited from her mother Sandhya and the place she always loved to live in.
There were days when Jayalalithaa chose to wave hands and show the two leaves symbol to her cadres from the balcony of her house. She was even called “Balcony Paavai” (balcony beauty) by her party seniors.
Now the party cadres will no more have the glimpse of their balcony beauty. The gates of the iron guarded Poes Garden residence will not open for them anymore. But who will live inside the swanky bungalow, which she cherished the most? Who will inherit it?
After Jayalalithaa's death, her friend Sasikala and a few members of her family continue to live inside it. Sasikala, who has been with the chief minister for three decades, however, faces serious allegations from different corners that she, along with her family—popularly known as Mannargudi family—is trying to usurp the properties of Jayalalithaa.
While the staunch AIADMK followers have still not forgotten the legal disputes over her mentor M.G. Ramachandran’s will and how his family members fought over it even to the extent of a murder, it is unclear if Jayalalithaa had prepared a will and who she accepted as her legal heir.
In her latest affidavit while contesting from the RK Nagar constituency, she had declared movable and immovable property worth Rs 113.73 crore. The industry estimate of her most cherished Veda Nilayam is Rs 90 crore. Apart from this are her Siruthavoor bungalow, her estate in Ooty, spread over 800 acres, 14.5 acres of agricultural land in Ranga Reddy district in Telangana, 3.43 acres of land in Cheeyur and the cars she owned.
Jayalalithaa also had gold jewellery weighing 21,280.3 grams which has been seized by the police and attached in the disproportionate assets case and is now lying in Karnataka treasury. She had total liabilities worth Rs 2.04 crores.
There have been demands from the partymen to make the Poes Garden residence her memorial which will showcase the things she used and how she lived her life. However, it remains to be seen who will take the call as the wealth and the legacy she has left behind by her does not have a true, legal inheritor.
