Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa remains critical after a cardiac arrest, an Apollo hospital spokesperson has said hours after her party the AIADMK said she had a heart surgery, a procedure denied by the hospital. A party leader Panruti Ramachandran said doctors are "observing the Chief Minister and she is improving," and the state's chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao was quoted by visitors as giving a similar report.

"There was an angio procedure this morning. Doctors say don't worry, Amma will be fine," said AIADMK spokesperson CR Saraswathi earlier, adding, "we are telling cadres don't worry. God is with Amma, she will come back. Definitely she will be ok."  

Jayalalithaa, 68, had a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening and was put on an extracorporeal membrane heart assist device, a life support system that aids heart and lung functioning. Union Health Minister JP Nadda said a team of four top doctors from Delhi's prestigious AIIMS has been sent to Chennai on the request of Apollo Hospital, where the chief minister has been admitted for the last three months.

Apollo's Sangita Reddy tweeted last night, "TN CM #Jayalalita is critical. Multi speciality team @hospitalsapollo trying everything, including ecmo. Praying for her recovery." In a series of tweets, the hospital also asked for prayers for the leader's recovery.

AIADMK lawmakers and ministers, most of whom are at the hospital, will meet informally there today, sources said. Top bureaucrats are also at the hospital as are Ms Jayalalithaa's close aides Sasikala and Sheela Balakrishnan, a former chief secretary and adviser to the chief minister.

Outside the hospital, hundreds of supporters of "Amma" or mother, as Ms Jayalalithaa is known to her millions of fans, have gathered weeping and praying and there is heavy security, with barricades put up. The police, on high alert, have blocked roads leading up to the hospital to avoid congestion.

Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao who visited the hospital last night has reportedly briefed Home Minister Rajnath Singh and told him that law and order in the state is under control.

Jayalalithaa was admitted at the Apollo hospital on September 22 and has been there since. Initially her party said she had dehydration and fever, but doctors later said she had an acute lung infection and was on respiratory support.

For several weeks, the hospital had reported much improvement in Ms Jayalalithaa's health and said she could decide when to be discharged. Her party said she was directing important decisions and had begun speaking.

On Saturday, the AIADMK had said Ms Jayalalithaa had been declared fully recovered by a team of doctors from AIIMS and would decide when to return home.

(NDTV)