Jaya said no to weight loss surgery, wanted to cut down weight through diet

Chennai:  J Jayalalithaa was against weight loss surgery to improve her health, a doctor said during her deposition before a one-man panel probing the former Tamil Nadu chief minister's death.

During cross-examination, Dr Jayashree Gopal, a diabetologist with a leading hospital, deposed that Jayalalithaa had said "no" to surgery and opted to reduce weight through diet. 

N Raja Senthoor Pandian, the counsel of Jayalalithaa's aide V K Sasikala who cross-examined the doctor, said the advice was rendered to improve the health. 

"The doctor had advised Jayalalithaa that a weight loss surgery would make walking easy and help ward off disorders like thyroid. "However, Jayalalithaa had said she would try weight reduction through diet," the lawyer said, quoting the doctor's deposition. 

Jayalalithaa had also expressed her inability to go in for physical exercises in view of her public engagements, the counsel said. 

Sweets taken by Jayalalithaa during her hospitalisation in 2016 was within limit and in accordance with her dietary plan and it was for celebrating the AIADMK's victory in the bypolls that year, Pandian told reporters. 

Besides Dr Jayashree, Dr D Shantaram and an official of a public-sector bank were cross-examined on Tuesday. 

The deposition of Dr D Shantaram showed that Sasikala had taken due care of Jayalalithaa's health, the lawyer said. 

Dr Shantaram of Apollo Hospital, who had treated Jayalalithaa since 2000 for diabetes, had deposed that the late leader's health began deteriorating since March 2015. 

Even during her incarceration in 2014 at a Bengaluru jail, Jayalalithaa's blood sugar levels were at the "correct level," according to Dr Shantaram's deposition.