On the occasion of the 69th birth anniversary of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Friday, her niece Deepa Jayakumar took the political plunge by launching the MGR Amma Deepa Peravai and unveiling the outfit’s flag – a black and red flag with a white circle with the image of MGR handing over a sceptre to Jayalalithaa.
She also declared that she intended to contest from the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar (R.K. Nagar) Assembly constituency in Chennai, which Jayalalithaa last represented as and when a by-poll is conducted there. Ms. Deepa said there were two objectives to the movement – accept the cadre’s wishes that she become the political heir to Jayalalithaa, and second, to stake claim to the AIADMK’s ‘Two Leaves’ symbol. She said democracy had been murdered and her effort would be to revive faith among the people who felt betrayed. She is the treasurer of the new outfit, which was launched after receiving inputs from the ‘original AIADMK cadre’. Asked if she would work with Mr. Panneerselvam, she said time would tell what path would open up.
She said she was surprised by her brother Deepak’s interviews to the media on Thursday.
She felt he had taken a ‘U-Turn’ and that he had been pressured by Sasikala’s family to make various statements. Her brother, she felt, had no clarity on what he wanted for himself.
On whether her outfit would contest the upcoming local body elections and on the appointment of office bearers, she said these decisions would be taken in the coming days.
