After spending almost 18 years in the United States -- where her three children live -- she says she returned to India after a divorce and helped the ailing Rajmata with her election campaigns.
Miffed with the BJP at the state level, she resigned from the party briefly this year and reveals that she was persuaded by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani -- one of her mother's old associates -- to return to the fold.
"Amma was like a gargantuan figure in the region. For years she was the sole financier of the BJP and VHP. There was no second rung of leadership, which in a way was a drawback. After her death, some people felt as if they were released and did not want to see a second person from the family coming up."
Dismissing reports that she contemplated joining the Congress as a "horrendous" fabrication, she says the move would have finished her. "My mother is my USP. I have direct access to the PM and DPM. Why would I want to ruin that and seek an appointment with that lady [Sonia Gandhi], not knowing how long I would have to wait for that!"