All India Anna DMK General Secretary J Jayalalitha on Thursday visited the Ramavaram residence of her political mentor and party founder, M G Ramachandran, to pay homage to him on his 91st birth anniversary and used the occasion to launch a scathing attack on zactor-turned-politician, Vijayakanth who claimed be MGR’s legacy.

Addressing the school for deaf and dumb children situated inside the garden Jayalalitha said: “I am the true inheritor of MGR’s political legacy as I am the general secretary of the party, AIADMK, founded by him.”

Taking an indirect swipe at Vijayakanth, who calls himself the ‘black MGR’ and who shows an old Ambassador car given to him by MGR’s late wife Janaki Ramachandran, as proof of his proximity to the family, Jayalalitha said: “You cannot have instant leaders in politics like instant coffee.” She said MGR did not become a leader of the AIADMK overnight.

He was associated with the Dravidian movement for decades and, as a leading hero, he used the film medium to popularise the DMK and its founder C N Annadurai. She said MGR played a key role in the DMK’s assumption of power in 1967 and glossed over the split in the DMK when MGR fell out with M Karunanidhi to float the AIADMK in 1972.

Jayalalitha’s visit to Ramavaram Gardens, after a gap of 11 years, came amid reports that disillusioned MGR loyalists who felt sidelined in the party were being increasingly drawn to Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam.

She, however, denied the reports saying, “I visited Ramavaram in 1995 when I was Chief Minister to call on Mrs Janaki Ramachandran and again in 1996 when she passed away.”

She said she visited the house at the invitation of family members, including Latha Rajendran, MGR’s adopted daughter and school’s management.