Jayalalithaa has been admitted in Chennai's Apollo hospital for the last 20 days.
BJP chief Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today visited Chennai's Apollo hospital, where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has been for the last 20 days and is being treated, doctors said, for lung infection.
Mr Shah and Mr Jaitley were at the hospital for 20 minutes and left without speaking to reporters outside. But they said in tweets that they had visited the hospital to inquire after her health and wished her a "speedy recovery."
The visit comes as M Karunanidhi, who heads the state's main opposition party the DMK, asked today why "no opportunity is being given to leaders to meet Jayalalithaa in hospital."
Leaders like Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi who visited last week, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, the DMK's MK Stalin and Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi who have visited the hospital, have been briefed by doctors on the Chief Minister's health but have not met her. It was not clear whether Mr Shah and Mr Jaitley met Ms Jayalalithaa today.
Mr Karunanidhi has today also questioned the state Governor Vidyasagar Rao's decision to assign the Chief Minister's eight portfolios to Finance Minister O Panneerselvam, saying, "Question arises if J Jayalalithaa issued a signed advice,"
The Governor's office said in a statement on Tuesday that the changes have been made on the advice of Ms Jayalalithaa, who has been on respiratory support for several days and will not be able to leave hospital soon, according to her doctors.
Mr Karunanidhi's party has been demanding that an interim chief minister to be appointed to ensure the state's governance is not compromised as it negotiates a critical water dispute with neighbouring Karnataka.
Ms Jayalalithaa, 68, was admitted at Apollo on September 22. While her party the AIADMK had said she was being treated for fever and dehydration and would be back home soon, a lack of regular updates on her health led to rumours that she was seriously unwell.
The Chennai Police have arrested two men and have filed cases against more than 40 people for allegedly spreading rumours on social media about the Chief Minister's health.
There have been more frequent updates from the hospital in recent days, stressing that Ms Jayalalithaa is responding well to treatment being supervised by a UK specialist and a team of three doctors from Delhi's AIIMS hospital.