Jaya's 'Veda Nilayam' house, converted into memorial opens

Late Tamil Nadu Chief MinisterJ Jayalalithaa's Veda Nilayam residence, converted into amemorial by the government was declared open by Chief MinisterK Palaniswami here on Thursday.

The Chief Minister announced that her birth anniversaryon February 24 would be celebrated as a state event everyyear.

The Veda Nilayam premises is still out of bounds for thepublic in view of a Madras High Court order on petitions byDeepak and Deepa, nephew and niece of Jayalalithaa challengingnotification for acquiring her aunt's house to convert it intoa memorial and the award passed by the Land AcquisitionOfficer.

The government has moved an appeal challenging the singlejudge's interim order and the petition is expected to be heardon Friday.

In a simple function, Palaniswami unveiled a plaque thatdeclared the Veda Nilayam residence a memorial in her honourand following takeover of the residential property by thegovernment.

Palaniswami, flanked by his cabinet colleagues, includingDeputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and Assembly SpeakerP Dhanapal paid floral tributes to a portrait of Jayalalithaaand they lit a traditional lamp symbolising the opening of thememorial.

Later, unveiling a life size statue of Jayalalithaa herePalaniswami announced that the late leader's birth anniversaryon February 24 would be observed as a government event tohonour her.

The nine feet high statue has been set up in the premisesof a state-run higher education facility on Kamarajar Salai infront of the Marina beach here.

Paying floral tributes to her, the Chief Minister saidevery year, on behalf of the government, her statue would begarlanded as a mark of respect and the anniversary shall beobserved as a government event.

Hailing her, the CM listed her achievements whichincludesall women police stations, a women commando force and specialcourts to try offences against women.

Named after the former Chief Minister's mother Vedavalli(whose screen name was Sandhya), 'Veda Nilayam' at number 81,in upscale Poes Garden is spread over 24,322 square feet andhas a landscaped garden.

The residential building comprises office room, library,waiting room for guests, conference hall and the premises hasbeen cleaned up and painted, a government release said.

Reportedly, the property was bought by Jayalalithaa'smother in the late 1960's and it was home to the late ChiefMinister for over three decades where several leadersincluding Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on her.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday allowed the governmentto go ahead with the opening ceremony but ordered that thebuilding shall not be thrown open to the public.

In its interim order, the court said, ''This casespotlights that the challenge involved here is not onlyconfined to the correctness or the legality of the acquisitionof the immovable property in Veda Nilayam, but to theincomplete process of acquisition of the movables also.'' On August 17, 2017 Chief Minister K Palaniswami hadannounced that Veda Nilayam would be converted into a memorialand opened to public in remembrance of her achievements andservice to the people.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly had in September 2020 adopted aBill to replace an ordinance issued for possession of the lateChief Minister's residence here and to facilitate vesting ofmovable properties therein with the government.