Rs 3 lakh compensation for families of 597 who died of grief post Jayalalithaa’s death: AIADMK

Students of Everwin School take part in a candlelight vigil to pay tribute to the late former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at their school premises in Chennai. (file photo)

The AIADMK on Monday announced Rs 3 lakh compensation for families of those who have died of grief post former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s death. The party claimed that 597 people have died so far after hearing the news of her demise. The announcement was made on the day newly-sworn in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam arrived in Delhi to request the Modi government to grant Bharat Ratna posthumously for Jayalalithaa. Construction of an ‘Amma’ bronze statue outside Parliament is also among the list of demands. He is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and handover a letter seeking Central aid for restoration works in areas affected by Cyclone Vardah.

On Sunday, expelled AIADMK MP Sasikala Pushpa filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking CBI probe into Jayalalithaa’s death. In her writ petition, she claimed that the circumstances leading to her death were “suspicious”. She also claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu feel that Sasikala Natarajan, Jayalalithaa’s close aide, and her family had a role to play in the former chief minister’s death.

In 2009, when former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y Rajasekhara Reddy died in a helicopter crash, over 100 people reportedly died of shock and grief. The report, however, could not be independently verified.