DA case conviction took massive toll on Jaya's health, says Sasikala

J Jayalalithaa fainted at her palatial Poes Garden bungalow in Chennai on the night of September 22, 2016, but regained consciousness when she was in an ambulance on the way to Apollo Hospitals, the former chief minister's long-time aide Sasikala has testified before the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission probing her hospitalisation and subsequent death.  

In a 55-page document, Sasikala has spoken in detail about the "massive stress" that the former chief minister endured after a trial court in Bengaluru convicted her in the disproportionate assets (DA) case.  

The trial court had awarded a four-year sentence to Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and two others, which was struck down by the Karnataka High Court.

However, the Supreme Court upheld the trial court order in 2017, but Jayalalithaa had died by then.  

In the affidavit before the commission submitted through her lawyer Raja Senthoor Pandian, Sasikala said Jayalalithaa took treatment from 20 different doctors between November 2014 and September 2016.

Jayalalithaa was doing fine for the first few days in Apollo Hospitals and her health deteriorated once again on September 28, a day after she held a meeting with senior officials on the Cauvery river water issue.  

"Akka (elder sister) was unwell since September 19 and I was asking her to get admitted in a hospital. But she did not agree with my suggestion. On September 22 night, she called me out for help and within minutes she fainted. She regained consciousness when we were on our way to Apollo Hospitals," a source  said, quoting Sasikala as having told the commission.  

"You brought me to the hospital only because I was unconscious. Otherwise, I would have never allowed this," Jayalalithaa is said to have Sasikala in a lighter vein.

The jailed AIADMK leader said the then governor CH Vidyasagar Rao, Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, Labour Minister Nilofer Kapil and Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar were allowed to visit Jayalalithaa during her hospitalisation.