After staying behind the screens for over two years, Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's niece J Deepa has again come before the spotlight so her brother Deepak. The recent judgment from the Madras High Court declaring them as Jayalalithaa's legal heirs has put them on the political spotlight as the race is on between the tri-rival factions to hit the one major target of taking Jayalalithaa's 'Veda Nilayam' residence in Poes Garden, Chennai under their possession.

In its recent order, the High court bench has named Deepa and Deepak as the direct heirs of Jayalalithaa's properties through which it has sent a huge setback to the ruling ADMK government in its move of taking the residence under its temporary procession to convert it as a memorial for the former Chief Minister who departed in 2016. The high court has advised the government to issue the notice and pay compensation for the legal heirs before acquiring the property. 

The High court has also asked the government to convert Jayalalithaa's residence into the Office-cum- residence of the Chief Minister rather than making it as a memorial and if the government tends to make it as a memorial, the court instructed to convert a portion of the residence as a memorial while the rest of the portion can function as the official residence of the Chief Minister. 

According to our sources, the state government would either be filing a petition of appeal against the High court's order or pass the ordinance signed by the Governor on acquiring the residence in the state legislative assembly to ensure that the residence doesn't go under the possession of the legal heirs. As the last resort, the government would consider implementing the court's order by paying compensation to the legal heirs to take possession of the residence as the government's property and convert it as a memorial.

The court order was a huge setback for the ADMK government as it has eyed to acquire the residence from the control of Sasikala's faction as the residence would likely be possessed by Sasikala once the jailed leader comes out of the prison. However, the government hasn't expected that the court would declare Deepa and Deepak as the legal heirs for Jayalalithaa's properties and as these three factions claim the property in one way or the other, the fight is on to hit the target. 

While Edappadi's government and the legal heirs have been moving legally, Sasikala's faction has also been attempting to wage a legal war as the faction of Jayalalithaa's closest aide has been trying to approach legally through Jayalalithaa's foster son Sudhakaran. Jayalalithaa has named Sudhakaran as her foster son in 1995 not through legally but through ritually. She conducted his marriage and in 1996, after she lost the legislative elections, she expelled Sasikala's family from Poes Garden and she declared that Sudhakaran is not her foster son. 

Sudhakaran is one of the convicts in the Disproportionate Assets Case along with Jayalalithaa and Sasikala and with the view of barricading the legal heirs and the government's attempts from acquiring the Poes Garden residence, Sasikala's faction is trying to intervene the case through Sudhakaran.

Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa has vowed that she will relocate to Poes Garden as the legal heir while the Edappadi's faction and Sasikala's attempts are eyeing for the legal race with the aim of taking possession of Jayalalithaa's properties as the developments reveal that Tamil Nadu has no dearth for political games amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Veda Nilayam was Jayalalithaa's residence till her last breath and recently, the Tamil Nadu Governor has promulgated the ordinance of permitting the government to take temporary possession of the residence to convert it as a memorial.