AIADMK cadre making good of the stony silence over Jayalalithaa

CHENNAI: As rumours fly thick and fast about the health condition of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, die-hard AIADMK supporters are convinced that no news about their leader is good news. Governor Vidyasagar Rao on Saturday called on Jayalalithaa at Apollo Hospital.

The AIADMK mouthpiece television channel Jaya Plus repeatedly announced that the CM was recuperating and dispelled theories about her deteriorating health.

“Our leader is in good health and she is responding to treatment very well. What is the need for such speculations on social media when the hospital has announced that she is okay? Do you think a hospital will give out bulletins that she is okay if there was any substance in such rumours?" AIADMK spokesperson CR Saraswati told ET Magazine.

Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation comes amid a raging dispute with Karnataka over the sharing of the Cauvery water, but a source in the AIADMK said that party meetings were happening on schedule “as instructed by party leader”.

“The CM is being taken care of in the Apollo Hospital where the second floor is cordoned off. Senior party leaders and bureaucrats are only allowed till the first floor of the hospital where they have set up a mini secretariat,” said a source.

An AIADMK representative said, “We know that chinna amma ( Jayalalithaa’s aide Sasikala Natarajan) and her relative Ilavarasi are by the CM’s bedside and if there is any problem they will be the first to let us know. No announcement about her health means that she is doing well.”