Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence Veda Nilayam to be open for public from January 28?

Former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence Veda Nilayam in Chennai will be open to the public on January 28, a day after the Madras High Court is set to hear the acquisition of the property,  as per reports. The Tamil Nadu government's move to convert the former CM's residence into a memorial was opposed by Jayalalithaa's niece J Deepa and nephew Deepak following which the MHC had asked the state government to refrain from doing so. However, with the hearing date nearing, an AIADMK state minister revealed details of the public being allowed into Jayalalithaa's residence later this month. 

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As per a report in News Minute, state minister for Tamil Culture Mafoi Pandirajan said that the doors of the Poes Garden residence will be thrown open to the public on January 28 while he was attending an event at the Connemara library in Chennai. Veda Nilayam was acquired by the Tamil Nadu government for Rs 67.9 crores in 2019 on the pretext of converting it into a memorial. Interestingly, CM Edappadi Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Pannerselvam are scheduled to inaugurate a memorial for Jayalalithaa at the Marina beach in Chennai on January 27. The statue which cost Rs 80 crores will be next to AIADMK founder - Dr. M G Ramachandran's statue at the beach.

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Tamil Nadu Assembly elections

Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are due during April-May 2021 and the political parties have started their campaign. While DMK's MK Stalin is eyeing the Chief Minister seat, AIADMK has arrived at reconciliation between two warring factions - of Deputy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) and CM E Palaniswami (EPS). Incumbent E Palaniswami has been named as its CM candidate and O Panneerselvam as the chief of the 11-member steering committee. The BJP is yet to make a formal announcement of the alliance with AIADMK and is in talks with Stalin's estranged brother MK Alagiri. On the other side, AIADMK has said that they are the big-brother within the NDA alliance and after a lot of deliberations, BJP has given in. Meanwhile, Kamal Hassan is on a campaign trail and Alagiri has said that the launch of his political party will be in January. Superstar Rajinikanth who was about to launch his party this year has backed out due to health reasons. 

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