In yet another embarrassment to the Edappadi K Palaniswami government in Tamil Nadu, Cooperation Minister Sellur K Raju on Tuesday claimed that all the ministers, including himself, had visited former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa when she was undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital in Chennai in 2016.
“All ministers, including me, visited Amma in hospital,” he told reporters after a review meeting in Chennai.
Raju contradicted the revelation made by Forest Minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan, a few days back, that all AIADMK leaders and ministers lied about Jayalalithaa’s health condition during her hospitalisation to create a false impression. “Sasikala and her family would tell us she (Jayalalithaa) ate idli, had coffee, was given sweets, did that and this… we told you what she (Sasikala) said… The truth is that nobody saw her… Even high-profile dignitaries including Amit Shah and Rahul Gandhi did not visit Jayalalithaa, but only met the hospital chairman,” Sreenivasan had said at a party meeting in Madurai. He also sought pardon from the people for lying about Amma’s health condition.
Ministers KC Veeramani and K Pandiarajan also endorsed Sreenivasan’s confession saying that no one saw the former CM during her hospitalisation.
Raju’s other cabinet colleague Nilofer Kafeel said that she saw Amma when she was being shifted to her ward. “I went to the hospital every day. One day, when Amma was being shifted to her ward, I saw her. I think she was not conscious then,” she said.
With the Ministers making a conflicting claim over visiting Jayalalithaa in hospital, questions are being raised over who is speaking the truth. Dismissing any differences among the Ministers, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said the inquiry commission report set up by the state government would bring out the truth over Amma’s death and also reveal who all saw her.
Retired judge A Arumughaswamy has been asked by the Tamil Nadu government on Monday to investigate.
Sasikala’s nephew and ousted AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran said his aunt had shot a video of Jayalalithaa in hospital, but it had not been released so far as she was in a “nightie”. The video, he claims, was taken when she was being shifted from the ICU to a room.
Ministerspeak
Ministers KC Veeramani and K Pandiarajan endorsed Sreenivasan’s confession, that all AIADMK leaders had lied about Jayalalithaa’s health condition, saying that no one saw the former CM during her hospitalization.
