Fisheries Minister and senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar has  criticised DMK president M K Stalin’s comment in an election campaign that DMK would probe the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the book titled Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Marupiravi Edutha Varalaru, Jayakumar said it was a good joke.

The book was penned by Dr H V Hande. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Park town constituency as a Swatantra party candidate in 1967 and 1971 elections. Having worked closely with political stalwarts, Dr H V Hande was inspired to write a book on the memorable accounts of M G Ramachandran. The book has been launched in two languages-English and Tamil.

The book titled “Critical Years of an Immortal Legend’, recounts the days where Hande was closely associated with the treatment given to MGR during his critical phase till the time of his demise. Dr Hande was the Health Minster at MGR’s cabinet and has played a significant role in the treatments provided for the legend. "Though I have worked closely with a lot of political leaders in the past, MGR had been my source of inspiration in every aspect of life. During his time of treatment, I had a vague idea of recording my memories with him and kept noting down the instances I remembered. 

The Eureka moment came in during an event I attended at Kuala Lampur, many years after his demise  where I delivered a speech about Puratchi thalaivar and all my colleagues and audience urged me to bring it out in the form of a book," says Dr Hande V, recollecting his motivation to write the book.

The book narrates the critical period of MGR and what transpired during the phase and the happenings of the state.