O Panneerselvam says no Tamil Nadu minister met J Jayalalithaa during her hospitalisation

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Monday said no state minister met J Jayalalithaa during her hospitalisation and indicated that only her close aide VK Sasikala and her family had access to the late chief minister. [caption id=“attachment_4274957” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. PTI[/caption] “No minister met Amma (Jayalalithaa),” he told reporters. “The nurse used to go… they (Sasikala and family) used to go,” he said. Asked why others could not meet Jayalalithaa, Panneerselvam said they were told that she could contract an infection. “We didn’t go (to her room) out of good intention that she should not contract infection. We wanted her to return in good health… they (Sasikala) would come out and tell Amma is doing well, eating. We could only say okay…thank you.. We were in grief that Amma was ill,” he said. He recalled that he took care of the portfolios held by Jayalalithaa during her hospitalisation last year. Panneerselvam, who took over as chief minister following Jayalalithaa’s death, later revolted against her close aide Sasikala, alleging that he was forced to make way for her elevation to the top post of the state. He also recalled he had said in February that the people of the state wanted a probe into Jayalalithaa’s death. Following a patch-up between camps led by himself and Chief Minister K Palaniswamy in August, the government constituted a one-man inquiry commission to probe the circumstances leading to the 22 September hospitalisation and medical treatment provided to her till her death on 5 December. The TTV Dhinakaran (his name is also spelt as Dinakaran) faction had released a video purportedly of Jayalalitha in the hospital recently ahead of the RK Nagar bypoll. The footage of about 20 seconds, aired by TV channels, showed the AIADMK supremo in a nightdress, looking frail and sipping a drink with the help of a straw.