The niece of J Jayalalithaa, J Deepa, has warned of legal action against a 37-year-old woman from Bengaluru, who claimed to be the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's daughter.
The woman, Amrutha, approached the Supreme court this week and sought a DNA test to establish her maternity by exhuming Jayalalithaa’s remains.
Speaking to reporters at Dharmapuri on Friday, Deepa said, "I suspect Sasikala family's role in Amrutha's efforts to blot the image of my aunt (Jayalalithaa). She (Amrutha) should stop making such derogatory statements or else a legal case will be filed against her in the interest of saving Jayalalithaa’s image."
Deepa also questioned the Election Commission ruling that allotted the 'two-leaves' symbol of the AIADMK to the Edappadi Palaniswami-O Pannerselvam group.
In her petition, Amrutha says she was brought up as the daughter of Jayalalithaa’s late sister Shylaja and that it was only after the former CM’s demise that she came to know through her aunts – LS Lalitha and Ranjani Ravindranath – that she is Jayalalithaa’s biological daughter. Lalitha and Ranjani are related to Jayalalithaa.
Amrutha states that when she was born on August 14, 1980, at Jayalalithaa’s Mylapore residence in Chennai, an “understanding” was arrived at between Jayalalithaa and the family members that her birth would not be disclosed.
She goes on to say that she visited Jayalalithaa on several occasions and that the late Chief Minister treated Amrutha with motherly affection. Amrutha also goes on to state that Jayalalithaa purchased membership of the AIADMK for her.
However, this is not the first time that Deepa has hit out against Amrutha.
In an interview to TNM last year, Deepa Jayakumar had called Amrutha a “fake”, stating, “I have no idea who this is. They are fake people. Most of them cropped up in 2002 claiming to be our relatives. I know my dad and mom’s relatives, and I don’t know of any Amrutha. I have seen her in some TV programmes recently.”
Deepa alleged that the Mannargudi clan had created these ‘fake’ relatives in 2002 to create confusion within the family.