Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s doctor at Apollo hospital on Saturday said that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader has recovered fully and can leave the facility whenever she feels fit. Apollo Chairperson Pratap C Reddy said her infection has subsided fully. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22 with fever and dehydration.

However, party leaders believe that it was better for Jayalalithaa to be in the hospital for a few more days so that her infection does not relapse. “At home she is the master. Further she may get back into the thick of things and as a result there may be some strain which is not there in the hospital now,” said senior AIADMK leader C Ponnaiyan.

Though the hospital is yet to issue a health bulletin, Ponnaiyan said Jayalalithaa is taking semi-solid food and is now able to sit up. He, however, added that only doctors, physiotherapists and nurses were allowed inside the Critical Care Unit of the hospital where Jayalalithaa was being treated. Last week, the hospital had said that Jayalalithaa had “completely recovered”.

While Jayalalithaa’s condition has been a major cause for concern in the state, Opposition parties including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam have questioned how she approved the reallocation of portfolios to Finance Minister O Panneerselvam while being treated. Controversy also arose after she put her left thumb impression on the nomination paper for an AIADMK candidate for a by-election on November 19. Her illness came during the ongoing Cauvery water-sharing dispute with Karnataka.