A day after Tamil Nadu Minister for Forests C Sreenivasan sought people's apology for "lying" about the health condition of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, television channels have pulled out his statement made following her death.
In the video clip that last for close to seven minutes, the Minister weaves an elaborate lie about having witnessed the Chief Minister being supplied oxygen. He further claimed, "After we won the elections (Thiruparankandram, Thanjavur and Aravakurichi), she blessed the winners, saying that the people believed in my statement and made you win. She congratulated the MLAs and gave the three sweets that she really liked and asked us to distribute them to everyone."
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To add insult to injury, he had further lied that he had held a conversation with the late CM about putting up her photo after recovery. In the speech he claims that Jayalalithaa said she cannot be photographed in the condition that she was in.
"You must think – whether it’s a man or a woman, image how they would look after spending many days in the hospital, without bathing, without combing their hair, etc. Amma was 69 years old, so you can imagine how she looked after so many days in the hospital," he said.
"Someone who we once saw on screen as an actor, a beauty queen, a golden star... She told us, “I don’t want to see anyone in this sick condition. I will be home in four days, and then ready myself and come before everyone." She told us to continue doing our work until then," he added.
The Minister who had then further gone on to accuse Panneerselvam for raising doubts over death for political benefits, has now openly admitted that all the Ministers have the same doubts regarding her hospitalisation.
According to him, everyone in the government and in the ruling AIADMK party "lied about the people" who had met Jayalalithaa in Apollo Hospital, where she was admitted on September 22 last year.
Sreenivasan said even the national leaders used to sit in Apollo Hospitals Chief Pratap Reddy's room and the AIADMK Ministers would also be seated in that room.
"We all lied then so that the party's secret does not get leaked," Sreenivasan said.
He said nobody even met Jayalalithaa in her hospital room.
The Minister's confession has drawn humongous flak from people of Tamil Nadu and opposition parties, who claim the AIADMK has hoodwinked the public.