Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has been at Chennai hospital for a week now
M Karunanidhi, chief of Tamil Nadu's main opposition party the DMK, today wished Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa a quick recovery, and also demanded that her government "put an end to rumours" about her health by releasing a photograph of her in hospital and giving the people of the state regular updates.
Mr Karunanidhi, 93, also requested the state's governor to intervene, asking why he had not visited the chief minister, who has been at Chennai's Apollo hospital for a week now, being treated, doctors said, for fever and dehydration.
Other opposition leaders like the PMK's Dr S Ramadoss have also questioned the lack of information about the chief minister's health, pointing out that it has given rise to worry and speculation.
The hospital said on Thursday evening that Ms Jayalalithaa, 68, has "responded well" to treatment and has been advised to stay a few days more in hospital as "evaluation tests" are being carried out.
The medical update came over 100 hours after the last one issued by the hospital on Sunday. Her party the AIADMK assured worried supporters that she was well and had even supervised her government's tough stand at a meeting with neighbouring state Karnataka on their dispute over sharing waters of the river Cauvery.
On Thursday, a senior Tamil Nadu minister read out M Jayalalithaa's blistering criticism of Karnataka's move to block Cauvery water at the meeting in Delhi.
The party has said Ms Jayalalithaa will be back home at her Poes Garden residence in Chennai soon.
Mr Karunanidhi has for many years been Ms Jayalalithaa's most bitter rival. In assembly elections this year, she made history by being re-elected in a state that had so far voted their parties alternately to power.