Tamil Nadu former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar is all set to give a tough fight to Shashikala, who claimed as heir apparent to JAYA after the leader’s death, in the state politics in the coming days.
Announcing she will follow in her aunt footsteps and enter politics, Deepa said she will announce plan of.action on the former Chief Minister’s birth anniversary on February 24. “I plan to embark on my political journey at an appropriate time,”.
Her supporters already showed their might at a program conducted to mark the birth centenary of the AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran or MGR, Jayalalithaa’s mentor.
The 42-year-old Deepa is bearing a striking resemblance to her aunt. She also has morphed into a lookalike, complete with her style of wrapping her sari and waving to supporters.
A section in the party sees her as the counterweight to Jayalalithaa’s close friend Sasikala Natarajan, recently elected AIADMK chief after decades in the shadows.
The London-educated daughter of Jayalalithaa’s brother came into the spotlight when she complained last year that she was not allowed to visit her aunt at the Apollo hospital in Chennai. Later, she also alleged she was banned from her funeral in December.