Twenty years after she was publicly humiliated, turned out of the MGR residence and not allowed to attend his funeral by his wife and relatives, Jayalalithaa is set to return to Ramavaram Garden. Much water has flowed under the bridge, and when she hoists the party flag at MGR’s residence on his 91st birth anniversary on January 17, it will be as the AIADMK’s unquestioned supremo and on the invitation of MGR’s warring heirs.

The state still remembers the sight of Jayalalithaa, then fighting to inherit MGR’s legacy with his wife Janaki Ramachandran, clambering on to MGR’s cortege on December 24, 1987, only to be pushed aside. She never came back to Ramavaram, till now.

As per a release issued by the AIADMK, on January 17, Jayalalithaa will hoist the AIADMK flag in front of the house and then visit the nearby school for hearing and speech impaired started as per MGR’s wishes. The late chief minister’s family said they have extended an invitation to her to visit the house, and they would be honoured if she agreed.

“It is a privilege to invite Jayalalithaa into MGR’s house. We sent her an invitation as soon as we heard the AIADMK’s plans to get her to hoist the flag in front of the house,” said Sudha Vijayakumar, one of the five adopted daughters of MGR.

The two-storey bungalow, on grounds spread over 6.7 acres, where MGR lived from 1962 onwards till his death, has been spruced up for the occasion. According to party sources, setting up the flag post and cleaning up the surroundings would have alone cost a few lakhs of rupees.

... contd.