Don't compare Jaya's health with MGR's in 1984: ex-health minister to Karunanidhi

Chennai: Former Tamil Nadu Health Minister Dr HV Hande, who was in charge of briefing the press in 1984 when then Chief Minister MG Ramachandran was hospitalized, said on Sunday that there can be no comparison between MGR’s hospitalization and that of J Jayalalithaa.

MGR’s was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai for a stroke in 1984. Hande’s remarks come a day after DMK President M Karunanidhi said the Tamil Nadu government has a responsibility to inform the people about the Chief Minister’s health.

Read: M Karunanidhi urges Vidyasagar Rao to give info on Jayalalithaa's health to people

The DMK patriarch had also advised the Tamil Nadu government to draw lessons from former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran’s stint at Apollo Hospitals, where regular updates were provided about his health.

“That situation was different from this,” Dr Hande said to the News Minute.

MGR had been rushed to hospital following kidney failure. A small committee was constituted and Hande as health minister in his cabinet had the task of briefing the press about MGR’s condition.

Hande pointed out that unlike MGR who was serious, Jayalalithaa has been admitted to Apollo with fever and dehydration. He said the medical bulletins released by Apollo Hospitals were enough.

Hande also pointed out that when Karunanidhi was admitted to hospital when he was Chief Minister, there was little update from the state government. He said that even when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was admitted to hospital for a knee surgery in 2001, the situation was the same.