AIADMK leader Dindigul Sreenivasan, who had last week claimed Sasikala Natarajan aka VK Sasikala and her family were responsible for the death of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, has now said he had lied about the health of the former AIADMK chief because he was under pressure.
Jayalalithaa had been admitted to Apollo hospital in Chennai on September 22 last year after she complained of fever and dehydration.
Soon, messages from people across Tamil Nadu began pouring in wishing her good health and a speedy recovery.
Jayalalithaa was in hospital for nearly 2.5 months, the AIADMK and the hospital management had claimed till about a week before her death that she was stable and doing fine.
It was also said that she had been signing files and documents related to the party and its affairs, and also that she held meetings with government officials on the Cauvery water issue.
Sreenivasan quashed this version put out by the state government and the hospital.
"We were compelled to lie about her health. Like many others, even I said that she was having idli and chutni just to make the people believe that she was doing fine. I had to do it to protect the party," he was quoted by India Today as saying.
Sreenivasan added that no one, including Rahul Gandhi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, BJP president Amit Shah and state Governor Vidyasagar Rao, was allowed to meet Jayalalithaa at the hospital.
"When they came to the hospital, they were made to sit in hospital owner Pratap Reddy's room. Sasikala would come down and talk to them and they would return, that's all. No one was allowed into the floor where she was kept," he said.
However, ousted AIADMK leader and Sasikala's nephew TTV Dinakaran defended her, saying: "My aunt Sasikala was also not able to see Amma after October 1 fearing infection. The governor also met her. And saw her condition. Do you mean to say he is lying? These ministers are changing their stand for power and money."
Jayalalithaa passed away due to cardiac arrest on December 5 last year. Since then, there have been allegations that Sasikala was responsible for her death. The AIADMK government in the state has initiated a probe into Amma's death.
