How much should we know about Jayalalithaa’s health?

An air of anticipation has enveloped Chennai’s Apollo Hospital for the last three weeks. Ever since, September 22, 2016, when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha was admitted to Chennai’s Apollo Hospital for “fever and dehydration”, hospital authorities have been regularly issuing press releases about her condition. Yet, thousands of supporters have gathered outside the hospital, hoping for details, standing in vigil and praying for Amma’s quick recovery. The opposition went so far as to demand an official statement and a photograph as evidence of the 68-year-old’s recovery.

There’s always been a desire among media, politicos and even the aam aadmi to know exhaustive details of the health of elected political leaders. Such inquiry into the lives of public figures is inevitable, but when it comes to India, there’s also historical precedence. “It’s often said that if journalists, or the world, knew how Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s health was deteriorating around the time India became politically independent, then the course of history would have been different,” shares Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, editor, Economic and Political Weekly.

Besides, today’s media over gauging, or lynching, as some would call it, is a result of the media having “grown bigger and getting more competitive. Today, all public figures in India and across the world finding that their personal lives are being more closely scrutinised than ever before,” says Thakurta. And when it comes disclosing their medical conditions, he points out that, “there are politicians and there are politicians. A whole lot us knew that VP Singh was suffering from cancer long before he passed away. When Manmohan Singh underwent a bypass surgery, regular bulletins were issued at AIIMS in Delhi. But when Sonia Gandhi underwent treatment at Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York, no one knew why”.

Why such different stances on disclosure within the same party, one may wonder. Congress member and former union minister Kishore Chandra Deo insists that even for a public figure, health is a private matter. “As the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi wasn’t a government functionary, but represented the party. Her health would only affect the party and the members didn’t feel the need to elaborate on her health,” says Deo.

Interestingly, the Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005 also seems to stand by the right to privacy. It exempts from disclosure: any information which relates to personal information that has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information.

But given that almost all corporate organisations today make employees undergo health check-ups to ensure they are of sound mental and physical health, isn’t it in the 'interest of the public' to ask the same of public authorities whose decisions impact the nation? Thakurta doesn’t think it desirable to make such disclosures mandatory, or even necessary, to gauge politicians’ health because, “if s/he is unable to appear in public, walk or talk, we’ll find out sooner rather than later”.

Deo argues that, “political parties are not like private organisations. By definition, they are associations of people — 10–15 persons having a certain purpose or ideology can start one. Political leaders can govern up to the age of 90, like Fidel Castro did. Moreover, in India we follow a cabinet form of government, therefore the responsibility is collective, wherein as Sir Ivor Jennings said, the prime minister, or in case of states, the chief minister is primus inter pares or just the first among equals”.

Admitting that the anti-democratic nature of parties sometimes makes this “collective responsibility” true only in theory, he adds, “Such issues arise only when all power revolves around one person.” Even so he believes, there should be no “speculation and demands in Jayalalithaa’s case. The opposition is asking for information. Sadly, it has taken political overtones. Such disclosures would be justified if something was left wanting — like a policy decision kept pending, administration coming to a standstill or a lapse in cabinet functions.”

While a health-check protocol seems unnecessary as the party members can elect the next-in-line, Deo welcomes legislation to regulate party functions as a solution. “I have always said that ours is a multi-party democracy, so no one can dictate the ideological content of a party. But we can have a body to oversee that each party is working as per the provisions (like intra-party elections) of its own manifesto or constitution.”

As for Amma’s health, as Thakurta said, we’ll find out sooner rather than later.