Prema, a native of Mysore, has become the talk of Tamil Nadu through her claim that she was the daughter of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. It's been nearly five years since Jayalalithaa had passed away and the drama of claiming the status of her legal heir has been continuing. On Thursday, when Tamil Nadu was filled with murky clouds over Diwali celebrations, there was a bolt from the blue moment Prema from Mysore had come to Jayalalithaa's memorial and made a shocking claim that she was Jayalalithaa's daughter.

Prema had arrived at Jayalalithaa's memorial on Thursday to seek the blessings from the deceased leader. She told that she is Jayalalithaa's daughter, however, the police officers who were stationed at the memorial had refused to permit her inside the memorial. Following the denial of entry, Prema had addressed the reporters during which she said, "I came to seek blessings from my mother on Diwali but I was refused entry. My native is Mysore and I have been staying in Pallavaram and everyone knows me." 

Responding to the question of why she had remained silent for several years, Prema said, "It was due to some reasons and I'll reveal the entire details soon". She immediately left the place without responding to other questions. The latest event of claiming the status of Jayalalithaa's legal heir had got added to previous such incidents and there had been no reliable evidence or connection to establish the legal heir status of the claimants. 

As Prema was not allowed to visit Jayalalithaa's memorial on Thursday, she had come and paid tribute to the late leader on Friday and put out more shocking claims that she had met Jayalalithaa in Apollo Hospital while she was getting treated and went on to say that she is going to meet expelled ADMK's General Secretary VK Sasikala in few days. Prema asserted that she had proper evidence to prove that she was Jayalalithaa's daughter and that she had met the late leader twice- one in her palatial residence in Poes Garden and another meeting took place in the Apollo Hospitals

After paying floral tribute to Jayalalithaa at her memorial on Friday, Prema addressed the reporters during which she said, "I came yesterday to seek blessings from my mother on Diwali occasion. However, the police had denied entry as the visiting time was over. The police had permitted us to visit the memorial at 4 pm today (Friday), so we came. I have been residing in Pallavaram for the past thirty years. I thought not to come here. But, memories of my mother had overwhelmed and I came here today as I was also suffering from depression." 

She said, "I didn't show myself before the public due to some issues and I have all evidence (to prove her claim as Jayalalithaa's daughter) and I will definitely share the evidence. Deepa (Jayalalithaa's niece) had tried to speak with me. But, I have never spoken to anyone. I have no relation apart from my mother and I currently have VK Sasikala and I haven't spoken with her either. I will meet VK Sasikala in three to four days and I will release the evidence. Sasikala has permitted me to meet her. My foster parents, who raised me, were in Mysore and recently, they had passed away. The details regarding me and politics will reach you soon." 

Addressing the reporters further, Prema said, "Assets are not higher than a mother and I was mentally upset when my mother (Jayalalithaa) had passed away and I took so many years to rescue myself and I have met Jayalalithaa in Apollo Hospital." These claims were stunning and when reporters asked how she was allowed to visit the late leader in the hospital when most of the national leaders weren't permitted,  Prema said, "I was denied entry to meet her on the day when she was admitted to hospital. However, after knowing the fact, I went to the hospital and Jayalalithaa's assistant Muthusamy had taken me inside the hospital through its back gate." 

"I met my mother and my mother had kissed me and she broke down in tears. I too began crying and she said to her assistant to take baby (Prema) out of the hospital. My mother will fondly call me Jayalalkshmi. I have met Amma once at her residence in Poes Garden and I met her for the second time in Apollo Hospital", Prema added. 

Prema's claim is not the first one, here's the previous one: 

In 2017, nearly a year after Jayalalithaa's death, a 37-year-old woman, Amrutha from Bengaluru had claimed that she was the biological daughter of Jayalalithaa. She had moved to the Supreme Court and sought a DNA test to establish her maternity by exhuming the mortal remains of Jayalalithaa. In her plea, she also sought a directive from the court to permit Jayalalithaa's family to cremate her body as per the rites, rituals, and customs of Vaishnava Iyengars. Amrutha further claimed that she was raised as the daughter of Jayalalithaa's late sister Sailaja. 

She said that she came to know that she was Jayalalithaa's daughter after Sailaja's death by her relatives. However, as per the known records, Jayalalithaa has only one sibling- her elder brother Jayakumar, whose children are Deepak and Deepa. In an interview with a magazine in 2014, Sailaja had made a new claim that she was the third sibling born to Sandhya and Jayaram, with Jayalalithaa being the eldest and Jayakumar the middle child. Sailaja claimed that her mother Sadhya gave her to art director Damodar Pillai's son, who raised her. However, neither Sailaja nor Amrutha had valid proof to establish a legal connection with Jayalalithaa. 

There were several contradictions in the claims made by Amrutha and Sailaja and while Amrutha had claimed in her petition that she has met Jayalalithaa a few times, Sailaja had said in her interview in 2014 that Amrutha had never met and spoken to Jayalalithaa. Sailaja then went on to claim that Jayakumar's daughter Deepa had scolded her for not attending her father's funeral. However, Deepa had affirmed that she doesn't; know Sailaja and Amrutha and added that they are fake people created by VK Sasikala's family. While Amrutha and Sailaja hadn't produced evidence to date, another woman named Prema has now come and made a new claim that she was the daughter of Jayalalithaa and that everyone knows her.