A visit to Apollo Hospital in Chennai by two leaders to see ailing AIADMK presidium Chairman Madhusudhanan led to intense drama within the AIADMK. The former interim general secretary VK Sasikala visited the hospital at the same time as former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) on Tuesday, July 20. However, the two leaders did not meet and EPS soon left the premises.

The former party general secretary and aide of the late Jayalalithaa created another ripple by reaching the hospital in a car with an AIADMK flag. Sasikala spent 15 minutes in the hospital. Later, she told reporters that Madhusudhanan was her elder brother in their AIADMK family and she came to visit him after learning about his ill-health.

AIADMK spokesperson M Babu Murugavel told IANS, "She may have come on humanitarian grounds... there is nothing political to it and her attempt to try and confuse the party cadres won't bear fruit."

The party had also earlier opposed her sporting the party flag on the car while she was returning to Tamil Nadu from the Bengaluru central prison, where she was lodged after being sentenced to four years in prison by the Supreme Court in 2017 for amassing wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income.

Sources in the AIADMK told IANS that EPS left the hospital as soon as Sasikala reached the premises. The former aide of Jayalalithaa has been in the news ever since the AIADMK faced defeat in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Sasikala was in constant touch with the lower-level functionaries in the AIADMK in all parts of the state. She also has a dedicated office at her T Nagar residence to communicate with party functionaries and disgruntled leaders across the state.

Meanwhile, AIADMK, on its official Twitter handle, said that people should not believe any rumours about the health of Madhusudhanan, who has been admitted to the ICU at Apollo Hospital, Greams Road.