Chennai: Former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa and brother Deepak have said the AIADMK government cannot take any decision on their own to convert their aunt’s Poes Gardens into a memorial without consulting them.

The duo claimed they were the Jayalalithaa’s blood relations and that the Poes Garden residence belonged to them.

Opposing the state government’s plan to convert Jayalalithaa’s residence into a memorial, Deepa said she would take legal recourse against this. “Legal notice should be given if the government wants to take over an individual property,” Deepa said.

Deepak said though they might be willing to give their aunty’s property for memorial, the government should follow the procedure established under law before taking over the house.

He claimed that he and his sister were `the only legal heirs under the Hindu Succession Act’.