Jaya’s death probe

The Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry (CoI) constituted to probe the circumstances leading to the hospitalisation and death of former CM of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa has recommended an investigation into the roles played at the time by VK Sasikala, Jaya’s confidante who lived with her; KS Shivakumar, Sasikala’s nephew; C Vijayabaskar, former state health minister; and Dr Radhakrishnan, former health secretary. The CoI lays bare discrepancies in the testimonies collected that deepen the mystery and raise doubts over crucial decisions taken over Jaya’s treatment and those behind it. Questions over whether an immediate angiography was warranted and the date of her death stand out. Thus, those indicted must be interrogated so that the matter is finally laid to rest.

At the same time, the CoI has given the clean chit to Sasikala regarding the late AIADMK supremo’s hospitalisation as it has found that adequate care was taken to shift her to Apollo Hospital promptly. In view of these observations, one cannot overlook the significance of the political wranglings triggered by the void created by Jaya’s death and the machinations of sundry lead actors as they fought to wrest power.

It is in this context that the demise of TN’s revered ‘Amma’ — who served as CM for six terms between 1991 and 2016 — in December 2016, while in power, soon went on to be shrouded in mystery as various conspiracy theories implicating Sasikala gained currency. Stories of the fishy role played by her emerged even as another hue was added to the political spectrum of the state with Sasikala being elected general secretary of the AIADMK and Jayalalithaa’s heir-apparent. She was set to be the next CM but her conviction in a multi-crore corruption case jettisoned the move. However, she had definitely become a common enemy of party rebels and opposition leaders. The possibility that they, then, sought to gain political mileage by whipping up emotions of Jaya’s legion of distraught followers by painting Sasikala as the villain, thus, must be kept in mind by those looking into the matter further.