Jayalalithaa Was Pushed Down Before Hospitalisation, Alleges Former TN Speaker Pandian

Chennai: Former Tamil Nadu assembly Speaker P.H. Pandian on Thursday alleged that J. Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on September 22, 2016, after the then Chief Minister was pushed down by someone at her Poes Garden residence in the city.

The discharge summary issued by the Apollo Hospitals, where Jayalalithaa was treated for 75 days till her death on December 5, 2016, has mentioned that the Chief Minister fell at her residence, Pandian told the media at former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam's residence here.

He said a police official called for the ambulance from Apollo Hospitals that ferried her to the Chennai hospital.

Pandian, who was one of the AIADMK leaders to oppose party General Secretary V.K. Sasikala's swearing-in as the Chief Minister, also alleged that more than 25 closed-circuit television cameras were removed from the Apollo Hospitals after Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation.

He demanded that the hospital authorities explain why was this done.

Pandian also wondered why a physiotherapist from a Singapore hospital was flown in to treat Jayalalithaa when the Apollo Hospitals has several such specialists.

He asked as to who gave the Apollo Hospitals orders to remove the life support systems of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016.

AIADMK Treasurer and Forests Minister C. Srinivasan, in a statement, criticised Pandian and said that clarifications about Jayalalithaa's health condition and the treatment given to her were already explained by a team of doctors who treated her.

Srinivasan said the discharge summary has been submitted by the Apollo Hospitals in a case pending in the Madras High Court.

According to Srinivasan, the National Security Guards assigned for her security would return to their base once she had reached her residence.

He said it was Jayalalithaa's personal security guard who called for the ambulance and took her to Apollo Hospitals on September 22.

On February 7, Pandian and his son Manoj Pandian, a former MP, had sought a probe into the circumstances leading to Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation.