Minutes after the TTV Dhinakaran camp released a video of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in hospital, questions are being raised about the authenticity of the video itself.
The video which purportedly shows Jayalalithaa sitting up on a hospital bed and presumably watching TV while sipping on some juice was released by estranged AIADMK leader and a Sasikala-TTV Dhinakaran supporter, P Vetrivel. But minutes after he released the video to media, opposition parties including AIADMK have questioned whether the visuals could be morphed.
BJP leader H Raja, while speaking to a TV channel said, “Prathap Reddy has already said she was in a bad state during her admission to hospital. He never said she improved. The veracity and authenticity of the video has to be verified. It looks like a doctored video. This is a narrow minded effort to influence RK Nagar voters. EC should take a call on influencing voters like this.”
KS Geetha, a friend of Jayalalithaa, said, “With the kind of money they have, they can even create a robot that looks like Jayalalithaa.”
Vaigai Chelvan, AIADMK MLA from Aruppukottai, was another voice that raised doubts on the video. Speaking to a TV channel, he said, “We have a problem with this video. Close on the heels of the election, when polling day is tomorrow, this video has been purposefully released to influence votes. There have already been many questions raised in the media regarding her death. But so far no video was released. Is this video authentic? This is a planned effort to influence the election.”
Echoing these statements, former AIADMK MP KC Palaniswamy told IANS, "It is for the Apollo Hospital to clarify whether such a room actually exists and whether the video clip is genuine."
Referring to Apollo Hospitals Group founder and Executive Chairman Prathap C. Reddy's statement on Saturday that doctors were told not to reveal that Jayalalithaa's condition was critical, Palaniswamy demanded to know who advised the doctors.