'I can only say that I will put my best foot forward,' Deepa Jayakumar tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar.
Deepa Jayakumar said she has decided to follow in her aunt's footsteps and will announce her next political step on Jayalaithaa's birth anniversary on February 24.
"We will work together jointly as two hands of AIADMK in future for the people of Tamil Nadu. He asked for justice. I too ask the same," Deepa told reporters.
As many as 145 nominations were received from aspirants seeking to contest the bypoll. Currently, scrutiny of nominations is on and an official update on the total number of papers accepted and rejected is expected later. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is December 7.
K Madhavan launched MGR Jayalalithaa DMK Kazhagam after paying his respects to Jayalalithaa and MGR at their memorials at the Marina beac
J Deepa, niece of late chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa, officially received the keys to the Poes Garden residence of her aunt on Friday, bringing to close a protracted legal battle to obtain the custody of the palatial building.
"I could not even stay at my house and goons are being sent against me. I do not know who (goons) they are...," Jayakumar said.
Deepa filed her papers before polling officer Pravin Nair after paying respects at the memorial of Jayalalithaa.
The Madras high court on Wednesday set aside an order of the previous AIADMK regime to convert late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's residence, 'Veda Nilayam' in Chennai as a memorial.
Jayalalithaa's nephew Deepak Jayakumar claimed that the late AIADMK chief had left behind her properties to him and his sister.
"The nomination that I filed has been accepted. I thank the Election Commission," the actor said.
In his order, the poll authority said required number of proposers had not validly proposed the candidature of Vishal Krishna and that the actor had been proposed only by eight valid proposers.
There is no denying that the Deepa identity has overnight caught the people's imagination across the state. But converting that into an imagery and from there as support and vote-base is a different matter altogether, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The faction led by O Panneerselvam will be referred to as 'AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma' and the Sasikala faction will be referred to as 'AIADMK Amma'.
Karunanidhi, 94, died at the Kauvery hospital on Tuesday following prolonged illness.
The AIADMK propaganda secretary also claimed "Panneerselvam is instable." State minister C Ve Shanmugam called Panneerselvam "a betrayer".
If anyone is targeting Sasikala or the AIADMK, then they should be looking elsewhere, not at Deepa for leading a revolt successfully, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Jayalalithaa was the third chief minister in Tamil Nadu to die in office, after her mentor M G Ramachandran (1987) and before that his mentor C N Annadurai (1969). The state government should have evolved protocols for the medical care of the incumbent, and institutional memory should have guided the government and officials in the matter, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Panneerselvam said Sasikala is only a 'temporary general secretary' and proper elections have to be held to elect new party chief.
The Madras high court on Wednesday asked the Tamil Nadu government to reconsider its decision to convert late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's residence in Chennai into a memorial and declared her niece and nephew as the legal heirs of her property worth several crores. A division bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose also suggested that Veda Nilayam, located in the upmarket Poes Garden area, be converted into the official residence of the chief minister of the state, while a portion of the property can be a memorial if needed.
The twin announcements have virutally cleared the decks for the merger of the two factions.
The Chief Minister Palaniswami camp, however, blamed the Sasikala family for the raids.
The jallikattu issue has revived pan-Tamil political sentiments especially among youths, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Whatever the circumstances the cadres will not let themselves be seen as challenging 'MGR's symbol'. It's an emotional identification for most of them, and many consider it an 'eternal sin' for them to defy 'Two Leaves', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
If either faction of the AIADMK failed to muster a floor majority, then the governor would be called upon to ask MK Stalin as the leader of the opposition if he would like to try his hand at government formation.
Barring Maharashtra, the poll percentage in rest of the states was in excess of 60 per cent while in Puducherry it was 80.47 per cent.
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