Jayalalithaa Had Refused To Go To Hospital, Sasikala Tells Inquiry Panel

J Jayalalithaa had refused to go to hospital after she collapsed in the washroom of her Chennai home on September 22, 2016, her long-time companion VK Sasikala has told a retired judge investigating the death of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister.

Ms Sasikala has also said that Jayalalithaa was videographed in a lucid state four times in hospital and senior AIADMK leaders including O Panneerselvam and M Thambidurai met her; both leaders have said they were denied access to Jayalalithaa in her three months in hospital. Two security officers also met and spoke with Jayalalithaa, Sasikala claims.

The document has been submitted to Justice A Arumughaswamy, a former high court judge who is inquiring into the circumstances of the former chief minister’s death, amid questions about her health and treatment.

Ms Sasikala, who was last year sidelined as AIADMK chief and is serving a four year jail sentence for corruption, has also said that Jayalalithaa “regained consciousness on the way to the hospital and asked where she was being taken”.

Jayalalithaa was unwell on September 22, the day she was hospitalized. Ms Sasikala claims in her affidavit that she was severely stressed by her conviction in a corruption case.

Around 9.30 pm, she fell unconscious in washroom on the first floor of her sprawling Poes Garden residence in Chennai, said Ms Sasikala.

“She called out to me for help. I suggested going to hospital, but she refused. She passed out and I called the doctor for an ambulance,” she said.

The doctor was KS Sivakumar, Ms Sasikala’s relative.

Jayalalithaa died in Chennai’s Apollo hospital in December 2016, amid questions fueled by the secrecy and limited access to the 68-year-old.

Soon after her death, the AIADMK confronted a power tussle with Ms Sasikala taking over as party chief and subsequently ordering O Panneerselvam, a Jayalalithaa loyalist she had installed as interim chief minister, to make way for her.

A section led by Mr Panneerselvam or OPS revolted and demanded an investigation into how Jayalalithaa died and her treatment.

Chief Minister E Palaniswami or EPS then set up an inquiry, which also facilitated the merger of the rebel OPS faction into the AIADMK.