Jayalalithaa refuses to go for hospital, sasikala tells inquiry panel

NEW DELHI: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, claims Ms Sasikala, who was among the few allowed near the charismatic actor-turned-politician in her last days. The document was submitted last week to Justice A Arumughaswamy, a former high court judge asked to inquire into the circumstances of the former chief minister's death amid questions about her health and treatment. Ms Sasikala, sidelined last year as AIADMK chief, is serving a four year jail sentence for corruption. She says Jayalalithaa "regained consciousness on the way to the hospital and asked where she was being taken".

Jayalalithaa was unwell on September 22, and was hospitalized soon after. 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, says 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 claims. The doctor was KS Sivakumar, Ms Sasikala's relative.

When Jayalalithaa died in Chennai's Apollo hospital on December 5 2016, questions were fueled by the secrecy surrounding her condition and limited access to the 68-year-old. Soon after her death, Ms Sasikala took over as party chief and subsequently ordered 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, implying a "conspiracy" involving Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran. To counter the allegation, a Dhinakaran supporter released a video in December, in which Jayalalithaa was seen sitting on her hospital bed, sipping a drink. E Palaniswami or EPS, appointed chief minister by Sasikala before she went to jail, set up an inquiry to facilitate the return of the rebel OPS faction into the ruling party.