The Tamil Nadu government's protocol division went into fast forward mode on Monday to enable VK Sasikala to be sworn in as the state's third woman chief minister on Tuesday evening.
Sasikala and her team is hoping that the Supreme Court would not respond to a petition moved by Satta Panchayat, an NGO, on Monday that sought a stay on her becoming Chief Minister until the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict in the wealth case involving her predecessor, Jayalalithaa.
The court had earlier in the day informed Karnataka's counsel Dushyant Dave that it will deliver the verdict in the corruption case in one week.
AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala flashes a victory sign after attending the party MLA's meeting in which she was elected as a AIADMK Legislative party leader, set to become Tamil Nadu CM, at Party's Headquarters in Chennai
The preparations for the swearing in were preceded by a press conference by three doctors who had treated Jayalalithaa during her 75 day admission there from Sept 22 to Dec 5 before she died of cardiac arrest.
Apollo Hospitals and the state government that had been fighting shy of coming out in public with any details about the nature of illness and the treatment given to Jayalalithaa, chose the day after Sasikala is elected Chief Minister to break its two month silence.
Led by Dr Richard Beale, the intensive care and sepsis specialist from London, the team ruled out any conspiracy in her death.
Former Tamil Nadu state Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa died in December, and on Monday the doctors involved in her care said everything possible was done to save her
'There was nothing unusual about Jayalalithaa's death. It happens to many sepsis patients in spite of the best treatment. The treatment was perfectly straight forward,' Dr Beale asserted.
He explained that Jayalalithaa was diagnosed with sepsis, which had spread to her blood and had also infected her heart. He said that Jayalalithaa was conscious intermittently and was able to communicate through signs and lip reading.
Regarding claims that no doctor was present when Jayalalithaa suffered the cardiac arrest on Dec 4, Dr Babu Abraham of Apollo pointed out that Dr Ramesh was very much present and he had put her back on ventilator after she had complained of breathing difficulties.
Sasikala and her team is hoping that the Supreme Court will not respond to a petition moved by Satta king Panchayat, an NGO, seeking to delay her official appointment
'When he discovered her heart rate was down, he immediately gave CPR and when she did not respond he asked the ECMO team to rush. It was a witnessed cardiac arrest and only more than 24 hours after being on ECMO and her heart had stopped responding, we took the decision to pronounce her death,' Dr Abraham explained.
On his part, Dr P Balaji of the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital also disclosed that Jayalalithaa was very much conscious when she put the imprint of her thumb impression on the Election Commission form (for three byelection candidates).
Dr Sudha Seshaiyan, professor of Anatomy at the Madras Medical College disclosed that Jayalalithaa's body was embalmed on the midnight of Dec 5-6.
British Doctor Richard Beale on Monday ruled out any 'conspiracy' in Jaya's death
Dr Beale also denied that any body part of Jayalalithaa was amputated or transplanted.
More importantly, the London specialist insisted that he was not holding the press meet under any political pressure, though he admitted that it was arranged by the state government.
'I was available now and agreed to meet the media,' he stated.
However the timing of the press conference, sandwiched between Sasikala's election as legislature party leader and her swearing in, only sparked speculation that it was aimed at damage control.
'The public is angry that Sasikala did not take care of Jayalalithaa's health and now that she is not around, she is in a tearing hurry to take control of the party and the government. All this has only double the anger amongst the people of the state especially AIADMK cadres,' said a former MLA.