Tamil Nadu: V K Sasikala set to move into a bungalow opposite Jayalalithaa’s Veda Nilayam in Poes Garden

Chennai: Three years after she walked out of the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru, V K Sasikala will on Saturday move to a brand-new palatial bungalow just opposite to Veda Nilayam, the residence of her late friend J Jayalalithaa, in upscale Poes Garden.

Though the housewarming ceremony was held in January, Sasikala will move into the bungalow on February 24, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa. The bungalow has come up on a vacant plot, registered under the name of Sri Harichandana Estates, which was used as a parking ground by the black cat commandos of Jayalalithaa when she was alive.

Sasikala, who was Jayalalithaa’s close friend from the 1980s till she breathed her last in December 2016, had begun the construction of the house in 2019 after the then AIADMK government decided to convert Veda Nilayam into a memorial for Jayalalithaa. However, the Madras High Court in 2020 struck down the proposal and handed over the bungalow to Deepa and Deepak, daughter, and son of Jayalalithaa’s brother Jayakumar.

On Saturday, Sasikala will move into the new house, facing the bungalow of Jayalalithaa where she lived for three decades along with her friend, and host a grand lunch for her supporters and well-wishers.

“She feels her heart is always in Poes Garden and that’s the reason she built a bungalow right opposite to Veda Nilayam,” a close aide of Sasikala told DH.

The construction of the house was also embroiled in several controversies with the then AIADMK government delaying the approvals and the property coming under the scanner of the Income Tax department.

Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden bungalow, whose value is over Rs 90 crore as on date, was purchased by her mother Sandhya for a mere Rs 1.32 lakh in 1967 when both were in the film world.

Though Sandhya had bought only the front portion of the mansion, her daughter Jayalalithaa expanded the bungalow by acquiring the near-by properties as her political graph rose rapidly.

Sasikala, who walked out of the prison in 2021, was pushed into political oblivion by Palaniswami, who was elected as AIADMK Legislature Party leader under her supervision.