Friday 26 / April / 2024
Muscat: A video purporting to show former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa in her hospital bed, has been aired ahead of a bypoll for her seat.
Jayalalithaa's death last year left a power vacuum in the southern state.
Now, P. Vetrivel, a disqualified MLA from the T.T.V. Dhinakaran camp, has released a video of J. Jayalalithaa resting in her hospital bed, sipping some juice and watching TV, saying it is untrue that no one met Amma during her stay in hospital.
Vetrivel claims the undated video to be from the time when Jayalalithaa was admitted to Chennai's Apollo hospital.
The video was shot in a normal hospital ward (room) and not inside an ICU.
Amma died on December 5, 2016, after she underwent treatment at Apollo for 74 days.
News channels across India immediately aired the footage, prompting the Returning Officer for the election to order its removal from airwaves. The warning reads: "Whereas your channel has been telecasting video footage allegedly depicting the former Chief Minister Selvi J. Jayalalithaa being hospitalised. The byelections to the R.K. Nagar constituency is scheduled to be conducted on 21st December, 2017. This telecast is in violation of to Section 126 (1) (b) of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, which prohibits display of any 'election matter', inter-alia, on TV, during the period of 48 hours fixed for conclusion of poll.
"You are hereby requested to stop any further telecast of this video footage having content that may directly or indirectly have any impact in the forthcoming elections or any discussion relating thereto adhering to model code of conduct."
