Jayalalithaa was admitted to hospital in Chennai on September 22nd.
The prolific life of one of the most powerful and resonating woman voice in Indian politics has come to an end as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa Jayaram, whom her supporters reverently call ‘Amma’, breathed her last in Apollo Hospital in Chennai in the late hours of Monday. She was 68.
The six-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu suffered a massive heart attack on Sunday and was immediately moved to the ICU and was placed in life support until Monday evening.
Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22nd after suffering infection and acute dehydration.
There were dramatic incidents outside the Apollo Hospital on Monday evening after a few Tamil regional TV channels reported that Jayalalithaa passed away without getting confirmation from the hospital.
Supporters pelted stones at the hospital and damaged a few vehicles as emotions were high. Police had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the mob outside the Apollo Hospital.
What made Jayalalithaa so endearing to the Tamil people was her film-political background. She was considered by the supporters as the successor of AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran, another actor-turned politician. The duo was one of the most sought after romantic pair in Tamil movie industry, but Jayalalithaa has denied wide speculation that she was introduced to politics by MGR.
Jayalalithaa was the second woman chief minister of Tamil Nadu after V N Janaki, the wife of MGR, whose government lasted only 24 days.
Jayalalithaa joined AIADMK in 1982 after her very successful stint in Tamil movie industry. While announcing her foray into politics, she withdrew from acting and worked closely with MGR- the politician.
She was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1984. The death of MGR created a void in the party and they formed two factions within the ruling AIADMK. The party suffered defeat in the ensuing election and V N Janaki withdrew from active politics, making Jayalalithaa the commander in chief of the party.
In 1989 she proclaimed herself as the political heir of MGR and became the supremo of AIADMK that lacked a visionary leader. In 1991, for the first time, Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and served office till 1996.
In the following election, she was defeated by the DMK, putting her in the opposition for the next five years. She rebounded in the 2001 election and became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the second time in 2002 till 2006.
The defeat during the 2006 election once again forced her to settle as the chief of the opposition party.
From 2011 to 2014 and then in 2015 she came out victorious in the election and served as the chief minister until her death.
The life of Jayalalithaa was more dramatic than some of the movies she acted.
Jayalalithaa was born in the Mysore district of Karnataka on February 24, 1948 to Brahmin parents. Her father died when Jayalalithaa was two years old, transferring ownership of his property to her stepmother, leaving her mother no option but to hand over Jayalalithaa to her sister who lived in Tamil Nadu from where she was introduced to South film industry.
In the initial days of her acting career, Jayalalithaa worked in small drama companies. She later went to Madras (today’s Chennai) to pursue Bharathanatyam dance. In Madras, she met Tamil movie star Shivaji Ganeshan who was impressed by her skills and introduced her to the Tamil movie industry.
Jayalalithaa debuted in the movie ‘Venira Adai’ in 1965 at the age of 17 years as the lead actress. The success of the movie brought to her more opportunities in the film industry but within the growing actress was an innate calling to continue with her studies and to become a lawyer, but the financial instability of her family forced her to put her interest in the backburner.
Jayalalithaa worked in more than 150 movies in various languages, including Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films and soon rose as the superstar of South Indian film industry.
Jayalalithaa also acted in a solitary Hindi film, titled Izzat, opposite Dharmendra. She received praise from across India for her dancing talent. Jayalalithaa was called the Sharmila Tagore of South India. She did many endorsements during her acting career, the notable one being the ‘Lux’ bath soap.
Tamil audience cherished all the movies that Jayalalithaa paired with Tamil Super Star MGR, who was instrumental in her political entry.
Her political life was not a clean slate as she was convicted and sentenced by a Special Court in Bangalore to four years’ imprisonment and Rs. 100 crore fine in an 18-year-old disproportionate assets case filed by Subramanian Swamy.
On June 30, 2001, the Jayalalithaa government ordered the arrest of DMK supremo Karunanidhi along with Central Ministers Murasoli Maran and T.R. Baalu after a case was registered on a complaint related to alleged losses of Rs 120,000,000 ($1760648) in the construction of the mini-flyovers in the city of Chennai.
Police broke open the door of Karunanidhi’s house at midnight and asked the aging politician to get dressed. The former chief minister was shoved, pushed, beaten and lifted by police officers. This incident caused great damage to the reputation of Jayalalithaa with the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee condemning the arrest.