Jayalalithaa's portrait to be unveiled in Tamil Nadu Assembly on February 12. Will PM Narendra Modi take part?

CHENNAI: A portrait of Tamil Nadu's former chief minister and iconic AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa will be unveiled in the state assembly on February 12.

According to ANI, the portrait of Tamil Nadu's iconic leader will be unveiled by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend the event.

PM Modi had been earlier approached by the Palanisamy government with a request to grace the event.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had sometimes back visited New Delhi during which he had requested the PM Modi to unveil the portrait of the late AIADMK leader.

In the invite to PM Modi, Palaniswami had said that Jayalalithaa had dedicated her entire life to the cause of Tamils worldwide and left an indelible mark on the Indian political landscape. ''She had made significant contributions by taking up the cause of Tamil Nadu, its language, culture and development,'' it said.

"A towering personality and statesman like you (PM), who has upheld the finest traditions of our vibrant democracy and maintained the cherished values of our Parliamentary system, would be the befitting person to unveil the portrait of our revered leader. The people of TN would be extremely happy if you could kindly consent to unveil the portrait," Palaniswami had said.

However, PM Modi's tight schedule did not allow him to attend the event earlier.

The move then set off strident opposition from the political parties since Jayalalithaa was convicted in a disproportionate assets case.

Lovingly referred as 'Amma' by her supporters, Jayalalithaa passed away on December 5, 2016, after suffering from prolonged illness.

Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospital in September 2016 for dehydration.

Later her condition got complicated. On December 5, 2016, there were rumours about Jayalalithaa's death in the evening which Apollo Hospital denied but later it was announced that she died around 11.30 pm on that day.

She was in the hospital for 75 days before she breathed her last.

Her death shattered the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) into factions, and after much unrest, Palanisamy finally assumed the office of the chief minister on February 16, 2017.

Recently on January 12, the Apollo Hospital, where former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa was treated, submitted documents pertaining to her treatment to an inquiry commission set up by the state government to investigate the matter.

According to ANI, the top management of the Apollo Hospital handed over the treatment record of Jayalalithaa, packed in two suitcases, to the one-member commission, formed by the Tamil Nadu government.

The commission had also ordered jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala's advocate Raja Senthurapandian to appear before it on January 22. On January 6, Sasikala had sought the copies of testimonies given by various witnesses against her in connection with Jayalalithaa's death. Sasikala, who has been jailed in a multi-crore disproportionate assets case, had filed an affidavit through her lawyer Raja Senthurapandian in this regard.

Earlier on December 22, the commission had summoned Sasikala and Apollo Hospital founder-Chairman Pratap Reddy in this matter. Following Jayalalithaa's death in December 2016, allegations of foul play began to do the rounds and state forest minister Dindigul Sreenivasan later claimed that all cabinet ministers had lied to the people about hospitalisation and death of the former Tamil Nadu CM.

Subsequently, a one-man commission was constituted and a probe under a retired Madras High Court judge, Justice Arumugasamy, was initiated on October 30.

The commission, whose constitution was challenged in the Supreme Court through a plea, which the apex court later rejected, is likely to submit its findings in the first quarter of this year. 

(With Agency inputs)