What happened to former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa that lead to her hospitalization on September 22 last year and how did she fare inside Apollo Hospital for the next 73 days? The question has come back to haunt Tamil Nadu with various ministers making contradictory statements on the hospitalization.
Doubts are being raised over whether Jayalalithaa was conscious even for a day and whether her thumb print was taken with her consent. Sasikala’s family, who were with Jayalalithaa throughout this period, has staunchly defended her and claimed that there is a video which clearly shows a conscious Jayalalithaa.
The hint about such a video was first dropped by sidelined Deputy General Secretary of AIADMK, TTV Dhinakaran. As Forest Minister Dindigul Sreenivasan claimed that no ministers had been allowed to visit Jayalalithaa, Dhinakaran retorted that his aunt (Sasikala) had recorded a video of Jayalalithaa, at the latter’s insistence. Jayalalithaa wanted the video after Sasikala informed her that she had lost a lot of weight, said Dhinakaran.
Since questions are being raised over whether Jayalalithaa was unconscious throughout her hospitalisation, why not release the video as evidence? When asked this, Sasikala’s nephew, Jeyanandh Dhivaharan told TNM that they did not intend to show it to the public as that would hurt Sasikala. “If she (Jayalalithaa) is going to be shown like that, it is against my aunt’s sentiments and the sentiments of our family and of all those who knew Amma well,” said Jeyanandh.
The family maintains that the accounts given by Apollo Hospital, AIIMS and Dr Richard Beale were genuine and the truth would eventually come out.
The patient care report released by Puthiya Thalumurai shows that Jayalalithaa was rushed to the hospital with sugar level of 508mg/dl on September 22 night. Many politicians have questioned why the Chief Minister had not been hospitalized earlier and how her condition had deteriorated so much. “We have all the evidence,” Jeyanandh replied.
Another source close to Sasikala said that it was purely Sasikala’s prerogative whether to release the video. “She has been blamed for everything. There is lot of evidence that Jayalalithaa was conscious and getting adequate treatment. In spite of all the public anger, Sasikala would not want the world to see a frail Jayalalithaa,” says the source.
A source working at the Apollo Hospital said that the hospital has no video or pictures from the time of hospitalization and they were unsure if Sasikala had shot a video.
“We have all the medical records and that will be given to the commission,” the source said.
The Tamil Nadu government has ordered a judicial inquiry headed by Justice Arumugasamy to probe Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation and death. While the state government has directed the commission to submit the report within three months, Apollo Hospitals Chairman Pratap Reddy informed reporters on Wednesday that the hospital would cooperate with the inquiry.
“We welcome the inquiry commission over Jayalalithaa’s death, we will cooperate with the commission. We have given a detailed statement on the treatment given to Jaya, we can’t respond to the recent developments in Jaya’s death," said Reddy.