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Mohammed Shafeeq in Hyderabad
Within days of Poornima Devi claiming to be the daughter of the man who designed the Indian flag, another woman in Andhra Pradesh has said she is Pingali Venkaiah's only daughter.
Ghantasala Seetha Mahalakshmi claimed she is the late Venkaiah's daughter and Poornima Devi is her father's grandniece. According to Mahalakshmi, 79, Poornima Devi is the granddaughter of Venkaiah's brother Lakshminarayana.
She also said Venkaiah has only one daughter and not two as claimed by Poornima.
But Poornima Devi is sticking to her claim. "I will be happy if Mahalakshmi turns out to be my sister," she said with tears in her eyes.
Both women said Venkaiah had two sons but have no details such as the whereabouts of their families. Neither of them has any photo or certificate to prove their claim.
Mahalakshmi said Poornima Devi's "false claim" had hurt her as her father was a simple man who never tried to derive mileage from what he had done for the country.
The two women have expressed their willingness to undergo DNA tests to ascertain whether they are the daughters of the same man. However, if their DNA is not related, the question will remain as to who Venkaiah's real daughter is.
Mahalakshmi has also disputed Poornima Devi's claim that Venkaiah died in abject poverty. She said her father was a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi and led a simple life. "He was against seeking help from even his own sons," she said, adding that the family never had financial problems.
Indo-Asian News Service
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