Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami is nearing the major residential transition as he would likely move to 'Veda Nilayam', the residence of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in Poes Garden, Chennai after the state government has, on Wednesday, admitted that it has been actively considering the conversion of Veda Nilayam into the official residence of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. 

Tamil Nadu's Advocate General (AG) Vijay Narayan has divulged the major assertion before the Madras High Court bench on Wednesday and it has been the first assertion from the government amid considering making the residence as the memorial of Jayalalithaa. The High Court was hearing the petition filed by the residents association which sought the directive from the court against the government's promulgation of converting Jayalalithaa's residence into a memorial.

During the hearing, the AG has disclosed the government has been actively considering converting a major portion of the property into the official residence of the Chief Minister as suggested by the High Court earlier in May.  He further stated that the other portion of the property likely would get converted as a museum, rather than the memorial and the museum would become a tourist place and it would be visited by millions of Tamil people. 

In its petition, the residents association argued that the conversion of the property into a memorial would affect the peaceful lives of members living in the property currently as it would attract thousands of people after getting converted as a memorial which would disrupt their peaceful lives. 

However, the High Court bench headed by Justice Anand Venkatesh has dismissed the petition by observing that the conversion of the residence of the leaders into a memorial is not new and it has happened in cases of various leaders who are being respected by the people. 

According to the reports, the government's assertion has come amid the long battle of assuming possession of the sumptuous residence of the late leader, who died in December 2016. In May, the ruling ADMK government has passed an ordinance of taking possession of the property and its assets temporarily to initiate the process and make arrangements of converting the property into a memorial. 

The petition of challenging the ordinance was filed in the High court during which the divisional bench of the court suggested the government to convert a portion of the property into the official residence of the Chief Minister. The court said that the residence has enough infrastructure to get converted as the office cum official residence of the Chief Minister and it has asked the government to set up the memorial if it wishes to. 

However, in May, the High Court has passed a fresh order in which it has declared Jayalalithaa's niece J Deepa and nephew J Deepak as the legal heirs of the former Chief Minister and the court has directed the government to issue a notice to the legal heirs for hearing objections from them in acquiring the palatial property, where Jayalalithaa resided till her death. If converted, Veda Nilayam will become the official residence of the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu regardless of the political party.