RTI reply reveals Jayalalithaa consumed food, interacted with people while in hospital

Republic TV has accessed an RTI reply from the Tamil Nadu chief minister’s office which reveals that former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa had recovered enough to consume food orally during her hospital stay. The RTI reply also reveals that Jayalalithaa also interacted with her family and also with ministers and officials on important issues, including Cauvery river sharing dispute.

The RTI was filed by activist Narasimha Murthy.

The reply has busted Tamil Nadu forest minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan’s claim, in which he gone out on public to say that he had lied about Jayalalithaa’s health when she was at hospital.

Tamil Nadu Forest Minister Dindigul Srinivasan put forth certain sensational claims at a public meeting stating that the AIADMK lied about former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s health when she was admitted to Apollo hospital in the state. Seeking an apology from the people, he added that nobody saw party supremo J Jayalalithaa at the hospital ward and claimed that the party has been lying about it. Furthermore, he said that everyone who came to meet Jayalalithaa only met Sasikala and not Amma.

When speaking about the time the AIADMK supremo was admitted to Apollo, minister Srinivasan said that while top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice-president Venkaiah Naidu, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi visited Amma, they were only allowed to meet Sasikala and the doctors. 

However, the RTI reply clearly mentions that when Jayalalithaa’s health deteriorated, the procession was conveyed to the senior political leaders. The reply even mentions the name of the political leaders like Panneerselvam, Dr Vijayabaskar, Thambidurai, Sasikala and other government officials, including chief secretary and the health secretary.

The development comes close on the heels of TTV Dhinakaran’s statement that former party general secretary V K Sasikala has video of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa when she was admitted in hospital and will give the video to the probe committee.

Dhinakaran's statement came after, Tamil Nadu Forest Minister Dindigul Sreenivasan leveled serious allegations on Sasikala and said that she and her family had access to Jayalalitha when she was admitted in Chennai's Apollo Hospital last year.

He also admitted that he and all other Tamil Nadu ministers used to lie about Jayalalitha's health.

Meanwhile, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President M. K. Stalin said that the Tamil Nadu Government announced probe into Jayalalithaa's death but it has not started yet.

Jayalalithaa passed away on the night of December 5, 2016 after spending 75 days in Apollo Hospitals, Chennai in critical condition.