Jayalalithaa was seriously ill when taking oath as CM in 2016: Apollo doctor

Chennai: Former Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalitha was seriously ill, had headaches and needed support as she took oath in 2016.

Doctor Babu Manohar from Apollo Hospital shared as much to the Arumugasamy Commission, inquiring into the former chief minister's death on December 5, 2016, according to India Today.

The reveal about Jayalalitha's failing health came out after the doctor was quizzed by Raja Shanmugam, the lawyer for Sasikala.

According to reports, when doctors urged her to take rest, she said she was working 16 hours a day.

Jayalalithaa died of cardiac arrest; she is the first female Chief Minister in India to die while in office.

Following her death,givings and mystery theories cropped up.

"J Jayalalithaa, was admitted to Apollo with pneumonia (fever and dehydration) on September 22, 2016", reported Indian Today in 2017. The report back then said that she had difficulty breathing.

Rumours were put about as someone pushed her down at her residence, Poes Garden. However hospital records reportedly didn't mention any injury mark on her body when she was admitted complaining fever and throat infection.

According to a 2012 Tehelka report by Jeemon Jacob, "Jayalalithaa found out that she was given sedatives and chemical substances that had small quantities of poison by a nurse appointed by Sasikala, and this is why she had expelled Sasikala and her family from her Poes Garden residence," India Today reported.

A photograph from she was lying in state at Rajaji Hall in Chennai had many guessing at the four dots on her face.

Many people speculated that Amma underwent either leg amputation or a transplant but the doctors denied the same, the report said.

To probe the mysteries surrounding her death, Tamil Nadu government formed a commission with Justice A Arumughaswamy in the lead.

The Supreme Court had directed the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to nominate a panel of doctors and constitute a medical board to assist the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission leading the investigation. Meanwhile, expelled AIADMK member, TTV Dhinakaran, reacted to the issue and said that Jayalalithaa was sick and that her death was later politicised to target his aunt, V Sasikala, according to Indian Today.