CHENNAI: AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on Saturday declared that she would overcome all the troubles of her present predicament, and used the statement to yet again appeal to her supporters not to indulge in acts that could endanger or cost them their lives. Noting that a further 26 deaths had been attributed to shock over her present predicament, Jayalalithaa said the toll so far had risen to 219.
“I will emerge victorious, overcoming all challenges. I have full belief in this. The foundation of this is my faith that the benevolence of Almighty will always stand by me,” read Jayalalithaa’s simple declaration, in an open letter to her supporters. “So, I appeal to my beloved Tamil people not to act in a manner that puts their lives at risk on this account,” she said.
Jayalalithaa noted that since her previous statement, released on October 19, in which she had announced that her party would provide financial assistance to the tune of Rs 3 lakh to the families of each of the 193 people whose deaths had been attributed to a response to her incarceration, Jayalalithaa said financial assistance would be provided to the families of a further 26 persons who have died. She released a list of these 26 persons, and offered her condolences to their families.