Jayalalithaa, who was admitted to the hospital on September 22 2016 in an unconscious state with respiratory distress, passed away on December 5.
Tamil Nadu Forest Minister Dindigul C. Sreenivasan has apologised to people on behalf of all AIADMK leaders and ministers for lying about Jayalalithaa's condition when she was admitted to Apollo Hospital for treatment.
"I seek a huge pardon from you," he said while addressing a public meeting in Madurai on Friday night. "Please forgive us. To make you believe that she is recovering, we had lied to you that she had idlis, chatni and people met her.
The truth is that nobody saw her."
Jayalalithaa, who was admitted to the hospital on September 22 2016 in an unconscious state with respiratory distress, passed away on December 5. Ever since her death, there have been hints of foul play over her death, with former chief minister O Panneerselvam seeking a CBI probe into the circumstances leading to her death.
The reasons for the lie, he said, were to keep her health condition secret.
"In a family, it is very common that sisters who fight inside the house will appear to be friends outside. Like that, we all lied then so that the party's secret does not get leaked," he said. He said that he had been pushed to tell the truth because of the current situation.
Sreenivasan said that governor, Union ministers, BJP President Amit Shah and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi were not allowed to see her. "All of them were taken to Apollo Hospital's owner (Prathap Reddy) room and told she was improving. Only Sasikala (Jayalalithaa's aide) and her family members met her. Nobody else met her," he said.
However, T T V Dhinakaran, Sasikala's nephew, said that after October 1, 2016, even Sasikala was not allowed inside Jayalalithaa's room. He said Sasikala would go inside Jayalalithaa's room for two minutes as per the doctor's instructions. He also said that he would hand over the CCTV footage of the treatment if a probe was conducted.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced that an inquiry commission, headed by a retired judge of Madras high court, will be set up to probe into the circumstances leading up to Jayalalithaa's death.
The government is yet to appoint a retired judge, even a month after the announcement. Panneerselvam, whose rebel faction sought a CBI probe, has merged with Palanisami's ruling faction.
Last week, Sreenivasan alleged that Sasikala and her family was responsible for Jayalalithaa's death.
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