Saw Jayalalithaa in hospital, claim three ministers

So far, three ministers have openly contradicted the statement of Forest Minister ‘Dindigul’ C Sreenivasan that ministers were not allowed to see Jayalalithaa during her treatment at Apollo Hospital. A day after Handlooms Minister OS Manian asserted that there was no controversy in Jayalalithaa’s death and the ministers were allowed to see her, Co-operative minister Sellur K Raju on Tuesday said all the ministers, including himself, had seen their leader during treatment. The minister, speaking to reporters after a review meeting of his department at Kilpauk, said he could not raise a controversy over the death of his leader and added only Sreenivasan could clarify his remarks. A similar statement was made by Minorities Welfare Minister Nilofer Kafeel, who endorsed Raju’s version.

But, on the same day, Commercial Taxes minister KC Veeramani at a public meeting in Sholinghur backed Sreenivasan, who openly admitted to lying to the people and said the ministers lied because they feared VK Sasikala very much as she was capable of doing anything against them. Tamil Development Minister ‘Mafoi’ K Pandiarajan and MP Maitreyan joined the team of leaders who did not meet the former Chief Minister at Apollo Hospitals. 

To cap it all, Finance Minister D Jayakumar came out with a statement that there was no difference among the ministers on meeting Jayalalithaa. He added, “An enquiry commission has been set up to probe Jayalalithaa’s death. It will reveal who met her and who didn’t.”

Perambur MLA P Vetrivel, a staunch supporter of sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran, told reporters that his group had nothing to fear about an enquiry into Jayalalithaa’s death since there was no mystery in the treatment given to the former Chief Minister. His colleague Thanga Thamizhselvan, reacting to the differing statements of ministers said all of them would be exposed before the people, resulting in negative results for them. The ministers, who were raising questions over Jayalalithaa’s death, were doing so only to defame Sasikala’s family since the popularity of Dinakaran is going up among the cadre and people, he added.