Chennai, Dec 20 (IANS): Late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's close aide V.K. Sasikala has thanked President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others, for offering their personal condolences at the demise of the former AIADMK chief.

At a time when the AIADMK officials were urging Sasikala to take over the party mantle, she sent separate letters to President Mukherjee, Prime Minister Modi and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi expressing her gratitude at their concern.

Sasikala continues to stay at the Poes Garden residence of Jayalalithaa from where she wrote the three letters on December 18. Jayalalithaa passed away on December 5, following a cardiac arrest.

The letters were released to the media by the AIADMK party on Tuesday.

In her letter to Mukherjee she said it was kind of him to have visited Chennai and paid his condolences to her personally on the demise of the late party matriarch.

Sasikala, in her letter to Modi said: "Many thanks for your visit and expression of sympathy to the people of Tamil Nadu and to me personally, in our moment of inexplicable grief and sorrow."

"Your words of sympathy to me, in my hour of personal grief overwhelmed me in everyway," Sasikala told Gandhi.