Tamil Nadu CM announces probe into Jayalalithaa’s death

Chennai: Chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Thursday announced a commission of inquiry into the death of J. Jayalalithaa and said that her Poes Garden residence would be turned into a memorial, thus meeting two of the prime conditions for merger set by the rival faction led by O. Panneerselvam.

The inquiry, announced eight months after the former CM’s demise at the end of a 75-day battle with multiple ailments at Apollo Hospital, will be headed by a retired judge of the Madras high court.

The judge’s name would be announced later, Mr Palaniswami said, recalling that the media had reported “all kinds of statements from various people and organisations” regarding Jayalalithaa’s death.

The 68-year-old former chief minister died following cardiac arrest on December 5 last year, plunging her followers into a state of despair and sorrow, and state politics into a cauldron of near-chaos.

The OPS camp’s spokesperson K.P. Munusami said only a CBI probe would bring out the truth, but welcomed the decision to covert Veda Nilayam into a memorial.

Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa said, “He (the CM) could have at least discussed it with me, since I am a legal heir, before making this announcement.”