Both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam have to pay a price for their connivance with those who surrounded Jayalalithaa, he says.

Following Minister for Forests Dindigul C. Sreenivasan’s statement that all Ministers had lied that former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was progressing well when she was in hospital, Opposition leaders on Sunday sought a detailed probe into her death.

Ramadoss’s poser

While DMK working president M.K. Stalin urged the Centre to order a CBI probe, PMK founder S. Ramadoss sought to know why Mr. Sreenivasan did not speak up back then.

“Mr. Sreenivasan had said that when Jayalalithaa was in hospital, no one, including the Governor, could see her, and that the claim that she ate idli was false,” Mr. Stalin said. “The speech exposed Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, who looked after the portfolios of Jayalalithaa at that time. He also indulged in diversionary tactics,” he alleged. The statement raised an important question on how the Governor’s permission was obtained on October 11 to hand over the portfolios of Jayalalithaa to Mr. Panneerselvam.

“Jayalalithaa reportedly put her thumb impression in Form B allotting the ‘two leaves’ symbol to her party candidates in four constituencies in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. If no one met her, how was her thumb impression obtained? A case filed by DMK candidate Saravanan questioning this issue is pending in the High Court,” Mr. Stalin said.

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He also wanted to know how a person who could only put her impression signed the appeal to voters asking them to vote for her party candidates. “Whether she actually signed the appeal or someone did it on her behalf because she was not well? Was the Chief Minster was surrounded by those who forged her signature,” he wanted to know.

Pointing out that the entire state administration was camping in Apollo Hospitals then, Mr. Stalin wondered whether Mr. Panneerselvam and his Cabinet colleague Edappadi K. Palaniswami just witnessed the atrocities.

‘Great betrayal’

“Both of them became Chief Minister after Jayalalithaa’s death. Why did Mr. Panneerselvam, who was the Chief Minister between December 5, 2016 and February 6, 2017 suppress the mystery? Mr. Palaniswami, who succeeded him, continues to suppress it. Why both of them are remaining a stumbling block to a judicial inquiry? Is it because they fear that they have to pay a price for their connivance with those who surrounded Jayalalithaa,” he asked.

Alleging that suppressing details surrounding Jayalalithaa admission to hospital and her death was a great betrayal, Mr. Stalin said the silence of Mr. Panneerselvam, who had vowed to launch a ‘dharma yudh’ for a probe into her death, was also a blatant betrayal.

Mr. Stalin said a judicial probe would not unravel the mysteries behind her death since the minister had made the shocking revelation that even the Governor did not see her in hospital.

“Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam were going through anxious moments ever since Mr. Sreenivasan made the shocking revelation. A team from AIIMS visited her and Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda also claimed to have monitored her health. So a CBI inquiry alone will unravel the mysteries,” he said.