Jayalalithaa said ’Yes’ to Portfolio Allocation to Panneerselvam, says AIADMK

Mangalore Today News Network

Chennai, Oct 12, 2016 :  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had okayed the allocation of portfolios to Finance Minister O Panneerselvam, her party, the AIADMK, said today in response to opposition questions. The party also said according to the doctors, Ms Jayalalithaa is "reading newspapers and recovering fast".

 

"Message was sent to Jayalalithaa about giving portfolios to O Panneerselvam, She said "yes". She’s not unconscious. Everybody can’t go inside due to infection, Only doctors go and she’s been conveyed (the message). Without the Chief Minister’s knowledge, nothing happens in AIADMK," party spokesperson CR Saraswathi told NDTV.

The comment comes on the heels of the opposition demand that Governor C Vidyasagar Rao explain just how Ms Jayalalithaa advised him to assign her eight portfolios or departments to Finance Minister O Panneerselvam yesterday.

M Karunanidhi, the chief of the main opposition party, DMK, said, "A question has arisen among some people if Jayalalithaa signed the file and rendered advice allotting her portfolios to Finance Minister Panneerselvam".

Another opposition party leader, S Ramadoss of the Pattali Makkal Katchi or PMK, said, "Till the Governor explains, the decision will be suspect... Jayalalithaa could not have gestured or signed while on respiratory support."

Both leaders have earlier questioned the lack of information about Ms Jayalalithaa’s health and demand that the government release her photograph to put rumours that she is gravely ill at rest.

Ms Saraswati today said, "Doctors say Jayalalithaa is reading newspapers and she is recovering fast. The hospital wouldn’t give a false report. Press statement from the government is not a public demand, it is an Opposition demand."

BJP chief Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today visited Chennai’s Apollo hospital, where the Chief Minister has been for the last 20 days and is being treated, doctors said, for lung infection.

In tweets, Mr Shah and Mr Jaitley said they had visited the hospital to inquire after her health and wished her a "speedy recovery," but it was not clear whether they had met Ms Jayalalithaa, who has been on respiratory support for several days and will not be able to leave hospital soon, according to her doctors.