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THE IRON LADY OF INDIA

J.JAYALALITHAA
KOWSALYA.K B.COM

Among the more memorable lines that flowed from J. Jayalalithaa was this gem
about the media in India: "The people of this country are illiterate. They don't read
newspapers and don't care what the papers write."

Last week, ensconced within the high security walls of her Poes Garden residence,
the chief minister of Tamil Nadu must have quietly eaten her words. Using her brute
majority, she got the Tamil Nadu Assembly to pass a resolution sentencing five sen-
ior editors of The Hindu and the editor of DMK newspaper Murasoli to 15 days in jail.

Their crime: The Hindu in April this year had published an editorial titled "Rising
Intolerance" which had attacked Jayalalitha's authoritarian ways. The editor of the
DMK mouthpiece was sentenced for merely reproducing a translation of The Hindu
editorial in the Tamil newspaper
J. JAYALALITHAA

5th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu


In office

23 May 2015 – 5 December 2016


President Pranab Mukherjee
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Governor Konijeti Rosaiah,
C. Vidyasagar Rao (additional charge)
Speaker P. Dhanapal
Leader of Opposition Vijayakanth,
M. K. Stalin
Preceded by O. Panneerselvam
Succeeded by O. Panneerselvam
Constituency Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar
In office
16 May 2011 – 27 September 2014
President Pratibha Patil,
Pranab Mukherjee
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
Narendra Modi
Governor Surjit Singh Barnala,
Konijeti Rosaiah
Speaker D. Jayakumar,
P. Dhanapal
Leader of Opposition Vijayakanth President Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam,
Pratibha Patil
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Governor Surjit Singh Barnala
Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi
Speaker R. Avudaiappan
Preceded by K. Anbazhagan
Succeeded by Vijayakanth
Constituency Andipatti
In office
27 January 1989 – 30 January 1991
President Ramaswamy Venkataraman
Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh,
Chandra Shekhar
Governor P. C. Alexander,
Surjit Singh Barnala
Contents

1 Early life, education, and family

2 Film career
2.1 Early career
2.2 Later career

3 Political career
3.1 Early political career
3.2 Leader of the Opposition, 1989
3.3 First term as Chief Minister, 1991
3.4 Loss of power, 1996
3.5 Second term as Chief Minister, 2001
3.6 Third term as Chief Minister, 2002
3.7 Fourth term as Chief Minister, 2011
3.8 Disproportionate assets case, 2014
3.9 Returned Fifth term as Chief Minister, 2015
3.10 Consecutively Sixth term as Chief Minister, 2016

4 Illness, death and reactions

5 Legacy
5.1 Biopics

6 Legislative career
6.1 Elections contested
7 Awards and honours
THE IRON LADY OF
INDIA
Jayaram Jayalalithaa[b] (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician
and film actor who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for over fourteen years between 1991 and 2016.
From 1989 she was the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dra-
vidian party whose cadre revered her as their Amma (mother) and Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader) . Her
critics in the media and the opposition accused her of fostering a personality cult and of demanding absolute loy-
alty from AIADMK legislators and ministers, who
often publicly prostrated themselves before her.

Jayalalithaa first came into prominence as a leading


film actress in the mid-1960s. Though she had entered
the profession reluctantly, upon the urging of her mother
to support the family, Jayalalithaa worked prolifically. She
appeared in 140 films between 1961 and 1980, primari-
ly in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages. Jayalali-
thaa received praise for her versatility as an actor and for
her dancing skills, earning the sobriquet “Queen of Tamil
Cinema”.[8] Among her frequent co-stars was M. G. Ram-
achandran, or MGR, a Tamil cultural icon who leveraged
his immense popularity with the masses into a success-
ful political career. In 1982, when MGR was chief minister,
Jayalalithaa joined the AIADMK, the party he founded. Her
political rise was rapid; within a few years she became AI-
ADMK propaganda secretary and was elected to the Rajya
Sabha, the upper house of India’s Parliament. After MGR’s death in 1987, Jayalalithaa proclaimed herself his political heir and,
having fought off the faction headed by Janaki Ramachandran, MGR’s widow, emerged as the sole leader of the AIADMK. Follow-
ing the 1989 election, she became Leader of the Opposition to the DMK-led government headed by Karunanidhi, her bête noire.

In 1991 Jayalalithaa became chief minister, Tamil Nadu’s youngest, for the first time. She earned a reputation for centralising
state power among a coterie of bureaucrats; her council of ministers, whom she often shuffled around, were largely ceremonial in
nature. The successful cradle-baby scheme, which enabled mothers to anonymously offer their newborns for adoption, emerged
during this time. Despite an official salary of only a rupee a month, Jayalalithaa indulged in public displays of wealth, culminating
in a lavish wedding for her foster son in 1995. In the 1996 election, the AIADMK was nearly wiped out at the hustings; Jayalalithaa
herself lost her seat. The new Karunanidhi government filed several corruption cases against her, and she had to spend time
in jail. Her fortunes revived in the 1998 general election, as the AIADMK became a key component of Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee’s 1998–99 government; her withdrawal of support toppled it and triggered another general election just a year later.

The AIADMK returned to power in 2001, although Jayalalithaa was personally disbarred from contesting due to the corruption cas-
es. Within a few months of her taking oath as chief minister, in September 2001, she was disqualified from holding office and forced to
cede the chair to loyalist O. Panneerselvam. Upon her acquittal six months later, Jayalalithaa returned as chief minister to complete her
term. Noted for its ruthlessness to political opponents, many of whom were arrested in midnight raids, her government grew unpopu-
lar. Another period (2006–11) in the opposition followed, before Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the fourth time after the
AIADMK swept the 2011 assembly election. Her government received attention for its extensive social-welfare agenda, which includ-
ed several subsidised “Amma”-branded goods such as canteens, bottled water and salt. Three years into her tenure, she was con-
victed in a disproportionate-assets case, rendering her disqualified to hold office. She returned as chief minister after being acquitted
in May 2015. In the 2016 assembly election, she became the first Tamil Nadu chief minister since MGR in 1984 to be voted back into
office. That September, she fell severely ill and, following 75 days of hospitalisation, died on 5 December 2016 due to cardiac arrest.

Early life, education, and family


Jayalalithaa was born on 24 February 1948 at Melukote, Pandavapura taluka, Mandya district, then in Mysore State (now Karnata-
ka) to Jayaram and Vedavalli in Tamil Brahmin Iyengar family.
The name Jayalalithaa was adopted at the age of one for the purpose of using the name in school and colleges. It was de-
rived from the names of two houses where she resided in Mysore. One was “Jaya Vilas” and the other “Lalitha Vilas”. Her paternal
grandfather, Narasimhan Rengachary, was in the service of the Mysore kingdom as a surgeon, and served as the court physician
to Maharaja Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV of Mysore. Her maternal grandfather, Rangasamy Iyengar, moved to Mysore from Srirangam
to work with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. He had one son and three daughters – Ambujavalli, Vedavalli and Padmavalli. Vedav-
alli was married to Jayaram son of Narasimhan Rengachary. The couple Jayaram-Vedvalli had two children: a son Jayakumar and
a daughter, Jayalalitha. Her mother, her relatives and later co-stars and friends referred her as Ammu.[14]
Jayalalithaa’s father, Jayaram, was a lawyer but never worked and squandered most of the family money. He died when Jay-
alalithaa was two years old. The widowed Vedavalli returned to her father’s home in Bangalore in 1950. Vedavalli learnt shorthand
and typewriting to take up a clerical position to help support the family in 1950. Her younger sister Ambujavalli had moved to Ma-
dras, working as an air hostess. She also started acting in drama and films using the screen name Vidyavathy. On the insistence
of Ambujavalli, Jayalalithaa’s mother Vedavalli also relocated to Madras and stayed with her sister from 1952. Vedavalli worked
in a commercial firm in Madras and began dabbling in acting from 1953 under the screen name Sandhya. Jayalalithaa remained
under the care of her mother’s sister Padmavalli and maternal grandparents from 1950 to 1958 in Mysore.While still in Bangalore,
Jayalalithaa attended Bishop Cotton Girls’ School.[15] In later interviews, Jayalalithaa spoke emotionally about how she missed
her mother growing up in a different city. She had the opportunity to visit her mother during summer holidays.
After her aunt Padmavalli’s marriage in 1958, Jayalalitha moved to Madras and began to live with her mother. She complet-
ed her education at Sacred Heart Matriculation School (popularly known as Church Park Presentation Convent or Presentation
Church Park Convent).
She excelled at school and was offered a government scholarship to pursue further education. She won Gold State Award
for coming first in 10th standard in the state of Tamil Nadu.She joined Stella Maris College however discontinued her studies due
pressure from her mother and became a film actress.She was fluent in several languages, including Tamil, Arabic, Telugu, Kanna-
da, Hindi, Malayalam and English
Her brother’s wedding took place at her Veda Nilayam home in Poes Gardens in 1972.[20] Her brother Jayakumar, his wife
Vijayalakshmi and their daughter Deepa Jayakumar lived in Poes Garden with Jayalalithaa till 1978[21] and then moved to T.Nagar
Chennai at the bungalow ‘Sandhya Illam’ which was bought by mother of Jayalalithaa.[22] Her brother was unhappy with adop-
tion of Sudhakaran, a relative of Sasikala, as foster son of Jayalalithaa.[23]
Jayalalithaa had adopted Sasikala’s nephew Sudhakaran in 1995 and disowned him in 1996.[24] Her brother died in 1995 of
heart attack.
She was fond of having dogs as her pets.But after death of Julie, a Spitz, in 1998 she could not bear loss of death of her pets
and hence discontinued keeping pet dogs at her home.

Early career
In Chennai, Jayalalithaa was trained in Carnatic music, western classical piano[27] and various forms of classical dance,
including Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam, Manipuri Kathak.[28] She learnt Bharatnatyam and dance forms under K.
J.Sarasa.[29] She had also learnt Kuchipudi under Padma Bhushan Guru Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam. She became an accom-
plished dancer and gave her debut dance performance at the Rasika Ranjani Sabha in Mylapore in May 1960.[30] The Chief
Guest at the Arangetram was Shivaji Ganesan, who expressed wish that Jayalalitha becomes a film star in future.[31]

While a child, Jayalalithaa acted in the Kannada-language film Sri Shaila Mahathme (1961), which had Rajkumar and Krishna
Kumari in lead roles.[32] She had been taken to the studio by her mother as she was shooting in the same premises for a differ-
ent film. While Jayalalithaa was watching the shooting, a problem arose as the child actress playing the Goddess Parvathy in a
school drama scene in the film failed to show up and the producer Neerlahalli Thalikerappa and director Aroor Pattabhi asked
Sandhya if Jayalalithaa could be asked to act in the dance sequence. Sandhya agreed and Jayalalitha was swiftly dressed up
as Parvathy and the scene was shot in Sri Shaila Mahatme.[33]

She played Krishna in a three-minute dance sequence held on stage in the Hindi film Manmauji (1962) and danced with Kumari
Naaz who played Radha. Y. G. Parthasarathy ran the drama troupe United Amateur Artistes (UAA), which staged English and
Tamil plays. Soon Jayalalithaa while a schoolgirl began acting in some plays of Parthasarathy along with her mother and aunt.
She acted in small roles in plays such as Tea House of the August Moon and Undersecretary between 1960 and 1964.

Shankar Giri, the son of the former Indian President V. V. Giri, saw her small role in the English play Tea Houses of August Moon
and was impressed. Shankar Giri approached her mother Sandhya and told he wanted to cast her daughter in an English film
called The Epistle. Sandhya reluctantly agreed with the condition that shooting should be held only during weekends or school
holidays.[30]

Sandhya had acted in the 1964 Tamil film Karnan, produced and directed by Kannada film-maker B. R. Panthulu. Jayalalithaa
accompanied her mother to a party related to the film and was spotted by Panthulu, who then decided to cast her opposite
Kalyankumar in the Kannada movie Chinnada Gombe. He promised to finish all shooting within two months in order not to
interfere with her education. Since Jayalalithaa would be studying for her PUC in two months’ time, Sandhya had declined
the offer initially.[34] Sandhya agreed when that promise was made and Jayalalithaa started acting and she was paid ₹3,000
(equivalent to ₹120,000 or US$1,700 in 2018). Panthulu kept his promise and completed shooting in six weeks. Jayalalithaa
had forgotten all about films after acting in her Kannada debut film and had got ready to attend classes at Stella Maris as she
had the ambition to be a lawyer. But
Later career
Between 1965 and 1973, Jayalalithaa starred opposite M. G. Ramachandran in a number of successful films, in-
cluding Aayirathil Oruvan, Kavalkaran, Adimai Penn, Engal Thangam, Kudiyirundha Koyil, Ragasiya Police 115 and
Nam Naadu.[38][50] Cho Ramaswamy cast her in the lead role in his directorial venture Yarrukkum Vetkam Illai.[51]

She acted with Ravichandran in ten films — Gowri Kalyanam (1966), Kumari Penn (1966), Naan (1967), Magar-
asi (1967), Maadi Veettu Mappilai (1967), Panakkara Pillai (1968), Moondru Yezhuthu (1968), Andru Kanda
Mugam (1968), Avalukku Aayiram Kangal and Baghdad Perazhagi (1974).[34] In 1972, she acted opposite Siva-
ji Ganesan in Pattikada Pattanama, which went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil in 1973.

In 1973, she acted in Sri Krishna Satya, which won her


the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in Telugu Her oth-
er films with Sivaji Ganesan include Galatta Kalyan-
am and Deiva Magan; the latter holds the distinction
of being the first Tamil film to be submitted by India for
an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Jayalalithaa was paired opposite Sivaji Ganesan in 17


films. She acted in six films with R. Muthuraman as a ro-
mantic leading pair – Dhikku Theriyadha Kaattil, Thiru-
mangalyam, Kanavan Manaivi, Avandhan Manidhan,
Suryagandhi, Anbu Thangai and Muthuraman played
supporting roles in Kannan En Kadhalan, Major Chan-
drakanth, Naan (1967 film), En Annan, Adi Parashakti, Thaer Thiruvizha, Dharmam Engey, Chitra Pournami and Oru Thaai Mak-
kal. She made her debut in Malayalam with Jesus (1973).Her 100th film was Thirumangalyam (1974), directed by A. Vincent.
She was romantically paired opposite Sivakumar in Kandan Karunai and Sri Krishna Leela. Sivakumar played supporting roles
in Shakti Leelai, Yarrukum Vetkam Ilali, Thirumangalyam, Annaivelakanni, Kavalkaran, Motoram Sunderapillai and Ganga Gowri.
The heroes of her films never objected to the title of the film being conferred on the female lead played by Jayalalithaa. Adimai Penn,
Kanni Thaai, and Kannan En Kadhalan had Ramachandran as the lead male hero but the story and the title was built around the character
played by Jayalalithaa. Similarly, Engerindo Vandhaal, Sumathi En Sundari, Paadhukaappu and Anbai Thedi had Sivaji Ganeshan as
the male lead but the title and the story was built around her character. She did many female-centric films where the story revolved on her
character, such as Vennira Adai, Yaar Nee?, Kumari Penn, Nee, Gowri Kalyanam, Magaraasi, Muthu Chippi, Thanga Gopuram, Avalukku
Ayiram Kangal, Annamitta Kai, Vandhaale Magaraasi, Suryagandhi, Thirumangalyam, Yarukkum Vetkam Illai, and Kanavan Manaivi.

She received the title “Nadippuku Ilakkium Vahuthuvar”


and also won Tamil Nadu Cinema Fan Award for Best
Actress for her 100th film in 1974.Her last film in Tamil
was Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal (1980).[38] Her last
film as the heroine was Nayakudu Vinayakudu in Telu-
gu,which became the highest grosser of the year in Telugu.
Her successful Kannada films include Badukuva
Daari (1966), Mavana Magalu (1965), Nanna Kartavya
(1965), Chinnada Gombe (1964) and Mane Aliya (1964).
Jayalalithaa holds the record for having been the Ta-
mil actress with maximum silver jubilee hits in her ca-
reer – 85 hits of 92 Tamil films as main female lead her-
oine and in addition she also has all 28 films in Telugu
as silver jubilee hits.She was the highest paid Indian
actress from 1965–1980. She made guest appear-
ances in nine films and six of her films were dubbed into Hindi. She had 119 box office hits between 1961 and 1980,
of the total 125 films she did as the main female lead. She made a brief appearance in 1992’s Neenga Nalla Irukkanum.[59]
Jayalalithaa won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress for Thanga Gopuram in 1971, Raman Thedi-
ya Seethai in 1972, Suryagandhi in 1973, Thirumangalyam in 1974, Yarukkum Vetkam Illai in 1975.She acted in myth-
ological films like Kandan Karunai, Aadhi Parashakti, Shri Krishna Satya, Shri Krishna Vijayam, Shri Rama Katha,
Shri Krishna Leela, Shakti Leelai, Ganga Gowri, Annai Velankanni, and Jesus. Her period dramas include Ayirathil
Oruvan, Neerum Neruppum, Mani Magudam, Adimai Penn, Ali Baba 40 Dongalu, Arasa Katalai, and Baghdad Perazhagi.
She acquired the reputation of being a multi-faceted actor equally comfortable in fantasy and mythological genres as well as in
modern social dramas] and hence in 1969, in Tamil Conference, she was given the tag of Kaveri Thandha Kalai Selvi.
She and Saroja Devi have been cited as the first female superstars of Tamil Cinema. She did double roles in eight films.

She received Special Award from Filmfare for her performances in ‘Chandhrodhayam’, ‘Adimai Penn’ and ‘Engirundho Vandhaal’
in the years 1966, 1969 and 1970 as the Filmfare Award for Best Actress was introduced only in 1972.Her performance in Pattika-
da Pattanama, Suryagandhi were critically acclaimed and won her consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1972 and 1973
respectively.
From 1968–73, Jaya at peak of career took interviews and wrote columns in the magazines like Bommai. She wrote a column-En-
nanga Selar in magazine Tughlaq in the 1970s. She also wrote short story “Oravin Kaidhigal” for the magazine Kalki, Manadhdai
Thotaa Malargal for Thaai magazine in the early 1980s etc.] She wrote about her own life in a serialised memoir in the Tamil weekly
magazine Kumudam
In 1980, she decided to voluntarily decline any new film offers. The journalist Brian Laul wrote an article specifying Jayalalithaa
was trying for a comeback but was not being offered any roles. Jayalalithaa chose to respond to him by writing a letter, in which
she mentioned that she was not struggling to make any comeback and that she turned down the offer from producer Balaji to star
in Billa opposite Rajnikanth. She added she wanted to pursue other interests and was not interested in pursuing her film career
any further
Her closest friends from film industry included Manorama,Cho Ramaswamy,Rajasree, Jamuna, Saroja Devi, Kumari Sachu, Anjali
Devi, Sowcar Janaki, Sukumari,Ravichandran, R.Muthuraman, Nagesh, M.N.Nambiar, Venniradai Nirmala, S.A.Asokan, Jaishankar,
V.K.Ramaswamy, Major Sunnderajan, P.Susheela, Sheela, M.S.Vishwanathan, L.R.Eshwari, R.S.Manohar.
She quoted on M. G. Ramachandran, “He was a very warm and caring kind of a person. And after Mother died, he replaced her
in my life. He was everything to me. He was mother, father, brother, friend, philosopher, guide. Everything. He sort of took over my
life.” In many of her interviews she often said she entered films on being asked by her mother and entered politics on request by
M. G. Ramachandran

Political career
Early political career

Official flag of AIADMK party


Jayalalithaa denied claims that MGR, who had been chief minister for the state since 1977, was instrumental in introducing her to
politicsIn 1982, she joined the AIADMK, which was founded by MGR.Her maiden public speech, “Pennin Perumai” (“The Great-
ness of a Woman”), was delivered at the AIADMK’s political conference in the same year[74] and was well received.Even the
then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Rajya Sabha member Khushwant Singh came to witness her speech which was widely
acclaimed for its clarity of diction and elegant prose.Her seat number in Rajya Sabha was 185,which was coincidentally the same
as that of what C.N.Annadurai had while he was a member in the Rajya Sabha.In 1983, she became propaganda secretary for the
party and campaigned extensively for the party candidate in the by-election for the Tiruchendur Assembly constituenc

MGR wanted her to be a member of the Rajya Sabha because of her fluency in English.Indira Gandhi lauded Jayalalithaa for the
various speeches she made on issues including the one on internal security in Rajya Sabha.Jayalalithaa was elected to that body
in 1984 and retained her seat until 1989 Her success in her role as propaganda secretary caused resentment among high-ranking
members of the party. By engineering a rift between her and MGR, these members influenced MGR to stop her writing about her
personal life in a Tamil magazine. Despite these machinations, she remained admired by the rank and file of the party She was
given key responsibilities, including in the implementation of the landmark noon-meals scheme when M.G.Ramachandran was
the CM and this taught her lessons in welfare politics. Later when MGR fell ill, she campaigned extensively for the party before the
1984 election.

AIADMK Head Office in Royapettah


In 1984, when MGR was incapacitated due to a stroke, Jayalalithaa was said to have attempted to take over the position of chief
minister or the party on the pretext that his health would prevent him from the proper execution of his duties.[82] She successful-
ly led the campaign in the 1984 general elections, in which the ADMK allied with the Congress.[80] Following his death in 1987,
the AIADMK split into two factions: one supported his widow, Janaki Ramachandran This faction was called AIADMK(JA)and the
other favoured Jayalalithaa called AIADMK(J) .Jayalalithaa faction was supported by senior leaders like V.R. Nedunchezhiyan,
Aranganayagam, KKSSRR Ramachandran, Thirunavukarasar. Janaki was selected as the Chief Minister on 7 January 1988 with
the support of 96 members; due in part to irregularities by speaker P.H. Pandian, who dismissed six members to ease her victory,
she won a motion of confidence in the house. However, Rajiv Gandhi used Article 356 of the Constitution of India to dismiss the
Janaki-led government and impose president’s rule on the state.

At the age of 41, Jayalalithaa entered the Assembly successfully contesting the subsequent 1989 elections on the basis of being
MGR’s political heir.[85]
Leader of the Opposition, 1989

She was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1989 as a representative of the Bodinayakkanur (State Assembly
Constituency). This election saw the Jayalalithaa-led faction of the AIADMK win 27 seats and Jayalalithaa became the first wom-
an to be elected Leader of the Opposition. In February 1989, the two factions of ADMK merged and they unanimously accepted
Jayalalithaa as their leader and the "Two leaves" symbol of the party was restored.[30]

On 25 March 1989, as claimed by the party and a section of the members present in the assembly, amidst heavy violence inside
the house among the ruling DMK party members and the opposition, Jayalilatha was brutally attacked by the ruling DMK mem-
bers in front of the assembly speaker on the behest of Chief Minister Karunanidhi.Jayalalitha left the Assembly with her torn saree
-drawing a parallel with the shameful disrobing of Draupadi in the epic Mahabharata At the peak of the situation, Jayalalithaa was
about to leave the house, she vowed to not enter the house "until as a Chief Minister In spite of some sections of media terming
it as a theatrics, it received a lot of media coverage and sympathy from the public During the 1989 general elections, the ADMK
allied with the Congress party and was handed a significant victory. The ADMK, under her leadership, also won the by-elections in
Marungapuri, Madurai East and Peranamallur assembly constituencies.[80]
First term as Chief Minister, 1991
Jayalalithaa presenting award in World Tamil Conference,1993

In 1991, following the assassi- nation of Rajiv Gandhi days before


the elections, her alliance with the Indian National Congress
enabled her to ride the wave of sympathy that gave the coalition
victoryThe ADMK alliance with the Congress won 225 out of the 234
seats contested and won all 39 constituencies in the centre.[80]
Re-elected to the assembly, she became the state's youngest chief
minister, and the first woman to serve a full term, serving from 24 June
1991 to 12 May 1996.[80][84] In 1992, her government introduced
the "Cradle Baby Scheme". At that time the ratio of male to female
in some parts of Tamil Nadu was skewed by the practice of female
infanticide and the abortion of female foetuses. The government
established centres in some areas, these being equipped to
receive and place into adoption unwanted female babies. The scheme
was extended in 2011.[99] Her party had 226 elected members to the
assembly. Her government was the first to introduce police stations
operated solely by women. She introduced 30% quota for women in all police jobs and established as many as 57 all-women po-
lice stations. There were other all-women establishments like libraries, stores, banks and co-operative elections.[100] She began
to be referred as Thanga Gopuram, Thanga Chillai and Thanga Tharagai (Golden Maiden) by her followers.[101]

She first invited Ford Motor Company to establish business in Tamil Nadu in 1995.This was followed by numerous companies
setting up factories here especially from automobiles sector which included Hyundai Motor, BMW, Daimler, Renault, Nissan, Mit-
subishi and Wright, Yamaha. Due to this, Chennai began to be called as the Detroit of India under her first term.[102] Royal Enfield
made significant expansion in Tamil Nadu and apart from Ashok Leyland, TAFE and TVS Motors became key players in Tamil
Nadu.
Loss of power, 1996

The Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK lost power in the 1996 elections, when it won 4 of the 168 seats that they contested.[103] Jayala-
lithaa was herself defeated by the DMK candidate in Bargur Constituency.[104] The outcome has been attributed to an Anti-in-
cumbency sentiment and several allegations of corruption and malfeasance against her and her ministers.[98][103] The wedding
event of her foster son Sudhakaran, who married a granddaughter of the Tamil film actor Shivaji Ganesan, was held on 7 Septem-
ber 1995 at Chennai and was viewed on large screens by over 150,000 people. The event holds two Guinness World Records:
one is for the most guests at a wedding and the other is for being the largest wedding banquet.[7][105][106] Subsequently, in
November 2011, Jayalalithaa told a special court than the entire ₹6 crore (equivalent to ₹27 crore or US$3.9 million in 2018) ex-
penses associated with the wedding were paid by the family of the bride.[107]

Her fortunes revived in the 1998 general election, as the AIADMK became a key component of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpay-
ee's 1998–99 government; her withdrawal of support toppled it and triggered another general election just a year later.

There were several corruption cases filed against her by the ruling DMK government headed by Karunanidhi. Jayalalithaa was ar-
rested on 7 December 1996 and was remanded to 30-day judicial custody in connection with the Colour TV scam, which charged
her with receiving kickbacks to the tune of ₹10.13 crore (equivalent to ₹45 crore or US$6.5 million in 2018). The investigation
alleged that the amount through the TV dealers were routed in the form of cheques to a relative of Sasikala, who had quoted Jay-
alalithaa's residence as hers. She earlier filed an anticipatory bail in the trial court, which was rejected on 7 December 1996.[108]
]
She was acquitted in the case on 30 May 2000 by the trial court and the High Court upheld the order of the lower court.[109][110

Though Sudhakaran was adopted by Jayalalithaa as her foster son in 1995, when she became aware that Sudhakaran began to
interfere in her financial affairs and that he took money without intending to repay, she disowned him in 1996 within one year of
adoption.[111]

When questioned on her views on Sasikala, Jayalalithaa quoted in 1996 "Sasikala never functioned as extra constitutional power
centre. Calling her defacto chief minister is nonsense. She is not interested in politics and I have no intention to bring her into poli-
tics." It annoyed her when people said Sasikala was behind many of her political decisions and termed such news as rubbish and
insult to her position as chief minister.[1

Second term as Chief Minister, 2001

Jayalalithaa was barred from standing as a candidate in the 2001 elections because she was found guilty of criminal offences, in-
cluding allegedly obtaining property belonging to a state-operated agency called TANSI. Although she appealed to the Supreme
Court, having been sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the matter was not resolved at the time of the elections.[113] Despite
this, the AIADMK won a majority and she was installed as Chief Minister as a non-elected member of the state assembly on 14
May 2001.[84] She was also convicted in Pleasant Stay hotel case on 3 February 2000 by a trial court to one-year imprisonment.
Jayalalithaa was acquitted in both the TANSI and Pleasant Stay Hotel cases on 4 December 2001 and the Supreme Court upheld
the order of the High Court on 24 November 2003.[114][115]

The AIADMK returned to power in 2001, although Jayalalithaa was personally disbarred from contesting due to the corruption
cases. Within a few months of her taking oath as chief minister, in September 2001, she was disqualified from holding office, and
forced to cede the chair to loyalist O. Panneerselvam.

Third term as Chief Minister, 2002

Upon her acquittal six months later, Jayalalithaa returned as chief minister to complete her term. Noted for its ruthlessness to
political opponents, many of whom were arrested in midnight raids, her government grew unpopular.Her appointment was legally
voided in September 2001 when the Supreme Court ruled that she could not hold it whilst convicted of criminal acts.[113] O.
Panneerselvam, a minister in her party, was subsequently installed as the Chief Minister. However, his government was purported
to have been puppeted and micro-managed by Jayalalithaa.[84][116]

Subsequently, in March 2003, Jayalalithaa assumed the position of Chief Minister once more, having been acquitted of some
charges by the Madras High Court.[117] This cleared the way for her to contest a mid-term poll to the Andipatti constituency, after
the sitting MLA for the seat, gave up his membership, which she won by a handsome margin.[118

India’s first company of female police commandos was set up in Tamil Nadu in 2003. They underwent the same training as their
male counterparts, covering the handling of weapons, detection and disposal of bombs, driving, horseriding, and adventure
sports.[119] The government led by her in 2003 banned sale of all lotteries, including online, within the territory of the state,
despite the risk of the state losing revenue. She gave orders to a special task force headed by K. Vijaykumar[120] to conduct a
secret operation to capture and kill the bandit Veerappan by entering Karnataka.[121] In 2004 she declared eliminating Veerap-
pan as biggest achievement of her government and quoted “”My only brief to them was capture Veerappan dead or alive. After
that I never interfered. I left them to work out their own strategies and this paid off.”[122] She began to be referred as ‘People’s
CM’ (Makallin Mudhalvar) and Iron Lady of India by end of this term.[123] In this term she launched Rainwater Harvesting (RWH)
scheme in 2001 to rejuvenate water sources and this improved ground water levels in the parched southern state and this idea
was replicated by various
states and even by the
Centre. She also started
the Veeranam project to
deliver water to the dry
metropolis of Chennai.
[124] Doctor Manmohan
Singh fre- quently
praised Jayala- lithaa for her
administra- tive skills,
mid-day meal schemes
and efforts for gender
empowerment. [125]

Her administra- tive abilities


were notable in her handling
of events following the
tsunami that hit Tamil Nadu
on 26 Decem- ber 2004.
Jayalalithaa announced
a Rs 153.37 crore relief
package, divided
into a general package and
a separate one for fisher-
men. She an- nounced that
affected fam- ilies would
get Rs 1 lakh as compen-
sation for every member lost, along with one dhoti, one sari, two bedsheets, 60 kg of rice, three
litres of kerosene, and Rs 1,000 in cash for groceries and that furthermore, Rs 1,000 was to be given for purchase of utensils, Rs
2,000 so they could put up accommodation. Per family, and there were about one lakh families in all, the package would cost
about Rs 5,000. The fishermen also received an extra Rs 65 crore meant to cover gill nets and boats. It was only a matter of hours
before Nagapattinam had its power supply back. With the state working on disaster management for over seven years, response
time had been reduced significantly; mobile cranes and ambulances were on patrol. The government entrusted district admin-
istration with rehabilitation of affected families, and when they were found to be incompetent, she reshuffled or sacked officers
immediately. Jayalalithaa even extended help to the Sri Lankan government by instating officers to guide the island nation in the
process of rehabilitation. Her administrative style was uncompromising, whether it was banning the sale of gutkha, or mandatory
installation of rainwater harvesting systems, but, she got things done on time without any ifs or buts, as was seen with the tsunami
relief, ensuring people remembered not the ruthlessness of her tenure, but the help it gave them.[126][127]

But, still her party fared poorly in May 2006 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, 2006 with Her party winning just 61 seats
out of total 234 in the state elections in 2006. She won in Andipatti. Though her main opposition, DMK did not win a single party
majority (96/234), DMK coalition had 162/234 seats and formed the cabinet until 2011 which she referred to as Minority DMK
government

Fourth term as Chief Minister, 2011

After another period (2006–11) in the opposition, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the fourth time after the AIADMK
swept the 2011 assembly election. Her government received attention for its extensive social-welfare agenda, which included sev-
eral subsidised “Amma”-branded goods such as (Amma Unavagam canteens, bottled water, salt and cement).

In April 2011, the AIADMK was part of a 13-party alliance that won the 14th state assembly elections. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as
the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the third time on 16 May 2011, having been elected unanimously as the leader of the AIADMK
party subsequent to those elections.[128]
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Jayalalithaa in July 2011

On 19 December 2011, Jayalalithaa expelled her long-time close aide Sasikala Natarajan and 13 others from the AIADMK after
she became aware that Sasikala and her family were working against her.[129] Most of the party members welcomed her deci-
sion,[130] and on 2 February 2012, Tehelka magazine claimed that Natarajan and some of her relatives were conspiring to kill her
by poisoning her food over a period of time.[131] The matter was resolved by 31 March when Sasikala Natarajan was reinstated
as a party member after issuing a written apology.[132] Sasikala in her written apology mentioned that she had no ambitions ei-
ther in the party or in the government and wanted to serve Jayalalithaa and added that she became aware of misdeeds done by
her family members when Jayalalithaa was in power. Only after Sasikala promised to be not in touch with her family members,
Jayalalitha allowed Sasikala back in
her house and party.[133]

Inand cycles and laptops for


Class 11 and 12 students.[136] In
2011 she launched the marriage
assistance scheme wherein the
female students received 4 gram
gold free for use as Thirumangaly-
am for their marriage and cash as-
sistance up to Rs.50,000 for under-
graduate or diploma holding females.
[137] There were rampant power
cut issues between 2006 and 2011
while AIDMK was in opposition
wherein for 10 to 15 hours there
was no supply of electricity.
However, after she regained power,
between 2011 and 2015, her state
govern- ment corrected all the
discrep- ancies of previous DMK
regime such that the Central Electricity Authority in 2016 said the state is expected to have 11,649 million units of surplus power.
[138] Tamil Nadu became among the power surplus states while she was chief minister in this term. In this term her government
ensured the wrongfully usurped property by land grabbing during 2006 to 2011 in the previous DMK regime, had been retrieved
and handed over to rightful owners between 2011 and 2015.[139]

She announced in 2012, the Vision 2023 document which embodied a strategic plan for infrastructure development which in-
cluded raising the per capita income of residents to $10,000 per annum, matching Human Development Index to that of devel-
oped countries by 2023, providing high-quality infrastructure all over the State, making Tamil Nadu the knowledge capital and
innovation hub of India. This project had three components — Overall Vision Document, Compilation of Project Profile and Road
Map. The work on this continued under her supervision until her death

Disproportionate assets
case, 2014
Jayalalithaa’s car Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
See also: Disproportionate assets case against Jayala-
lithaa

Three years into her tenure, she was convicted in a


disproportionate-assets case, rendering her disqualified
to hold office.

On 27 September 2014, Jayalalithaa was sentenced to


four years in jail and fined100 crore (equivalent to ₹119
crore or US$17 million in 2018) by the Special Court
in Bangalore. She was convicted in an 18-year-old dis-
proportionate assets case that was launched by Janata
Party President Subramanian Swamy (now a member of
Bharatiya Janata Party) on 20 August 1996 on the basis
of an Income Tax Department report on her. Jayalali-
thaa’s close aide Sasikala Natarajan, her niece Ilavarasi, her nephew and the chief minister’s disowned foster son Sudhakaran
were also convicted. They were sentenced to four years in jail and fined 10 crore (equivalent to crore or US$1.7 million in 2018)
each. Special Judge John Michael D’Cunha convicted her to owning assets to the tune of 66.65 crore (equivalent to 272 crore or
US$39 million in 2018) (which includes 2,000 acres (810 ha) of land, 30 kilograms (66 lb) of gold and 12,000 saris) disproportion-
ate to her known sources of income during 1991–96 when she was chief minister for the first time. The verdict was delivered by a
makeshift court in the Parappana Agrahara prison complex in the presence of Jayalalithaa and the other accused.
She was automatically disqualified from the post of CM and the legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu, and thus became the first
Indian chief minister to be disqualified.[141] O. Panneerselvam, a minister in her party, succeeded her as the Chief Minister on 29
September 2014.[142] On 17 October 2014, the Supreme Court granted her two months’ bail and suspended her sentence.[143]

On 11 May 2015, a special Bench of the Karnataka High Court set aside her conviction on appeal. That court acquitted her and the
alleged associates – Sasikala Natarajan, her niece Ilavarasi, her nephew and Jayalalithaa’s disowned foster son Sudhakaran.[144]

On 14 February 2017 (subsequent to her death) the Supreme Court of India over-ruled the Karnataka High Court. Sasikala and
the other accused were convicted and sentenced to four years of imprisonment, as well as being fined 10 crores each. The case
against Jayalalithaa was abated because she had died and hence can’t defend herself

Returned Fifth term as Chief Minister, 2015


Jayalalithaa welcoming prime minister Narendra Modi

The acquittal allowed her once again to hold office and on


23 May 2015, Jayalalithaa was sworn in[146] as Chief Min-
ister of Tamil Nadu for the fifth time. She was subsequently
re-elected by the electorate of the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar
(State Assembly Constitu- ency) of North Chennai in the
by-election held on 27 June 2015. In a landslide victory, she
polled more than 88 per cent votes of the 74.4 per cent
turnout, winning by a margin of over 150,000 votes.[147]

In 2015 she introduced Amma Master Health checkup


plan where in people could get various treatments done at
a low fee in government hospitals and rolled out Amma
Arogya plan wherein at primary health care centre in
Tamil Nadu, certain tests can be done by public twice a week.
This was done to help the sections of society who cannot
afford the fares asked for by private hospital.[148] Later in
February 2016 she started the free bus ride scheme for
senior citizens above age of 60 wherein person could travel free of cost for 10 times a month.[149] Her government initiated Glob-
al Investors Summit in 2015 which saw over Rs 2.43 lakh crore worth of investments being committed to the state. Jayalalithaa’s
term, all of them together, saw some big-ticket investments in the state and over $20 billion FDI.[150] The department of industrial
policy and promotion data disclosed that Tamil Nadu saw foreign direct investment inflows of $7.3 billion from April 2000 to March
2011 however this went up to $13.94 billion from April 2011 to December 2015, under her government, which at as per conversion
rate as of 2016 equals Rs 83,766 crore. It is to be noted that between April 2015 and December 2015, the State attracted $4.3
billion in FDI.[151]

Consecutively Sixth term as Chief Minister, 2016


Jayalalithaa with vice president Venkaiah Naidu in
foundation stone laying ceremony

In the 2016 assembly election, she became the first


Tamil Nadu chief minister since MGR in 1984 to
be voted back into office. That September, she fell
severely ill and, following 75 days of hospitalisation,
died on 5 December 2016 due to cardiac arrest.

Jayalalithaa was again elected as Chief Minister of


Tamil Nadu in the May 2016 elections. She retained
the R. K. Nagar constituency with a margin of
39,545 votes over her DMK rival.[152] She became
the first leader in Tamil Nadu to serve consecutive
terms as Chief Minister since the death of MGR in
1987.[153] In her victory speech, she commented,
"Even when 10 parties allied themselves against
me, I did not have a coalition and I placed my faith
in God and built an alliance with the people. It is
clear that the people have faith in me and I have total faith in the people."[154]

also regarded as one of her achievements.[155] She increased the freedom fighters monthly pension to Rs 12,000, family pension
and increased special pension to Rs 6,000.[156] On 21 September 2016 she inaugurated two Chennai metro rail lines by way of
video conferencing.[157] This was her last public appearance before being admitted to hospital on 22 September 2016.[citation
needed]

Illness, death and reactions


Pranab Mukherjee paying tributes to Jayalalithaa in Rajaji Hall

On 22 September 2016, Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, as she was suffering from an infection and
acute dehydration. Her official duties were handed over to her aide O. Panneerselvam on 12 October 2016, though she continued
to remain as the chief minister of the state[158] She was also said to be suffering from a severe pulmonary infection and septicae-
mia, which were cured. On 4 December 2016, she was re-admitted to the intensive care unit after suffering a cardiac arrest around
16:45.[159] The hospital released a press statement stating that her condition was "very critical" and that she was on life support.
[160] On 5 December 2016, the hospital announced her death.[161]

Government of India declared a one-day national mourning with the national flag in all government buildings flying at half-mast.
While a seven-day mourning from 6–12 December 2016 was observed by Government of Tamil Nadu,[162] also three day state
mourning from 6–8 December 2016 were observed by Government of Kerala,[163] and Government of Puducherry.[164] One day
state mourning on 6 December 2016 was observed by Government of Karnataka,[165] Government of Punjab.[166][167] body
was kept in state at her residence in Poes Garden and Rajaji Hall. Her last rites were performed on the evening of 6 December
2016 and she was interred in the northern end of the Marina Beach in Chennai in sandalwood casket, near the grave of her mentor
M. G. Ramachandran in MGR Memorial.[168][169][170]
Legacy
Biopics
In Mani Ratnam’s political drama Iruvar (1997), the character of Kalpana portrayed by Aishwarya Rai, was inspired by Jayalalithaa
and her professional and personal relationship with M. G. Ramachandran.[173][174][175] Faisal Saif completed work on major
portions of a film titled Amma between 2014 and 2016, but was forced to shelve it following threats from members of Jayalalithaa’s
political party. The makers denied that the film was a biopic, but stated that actress Ragini Dwivedi portrayed a role resembling the
politician.[176][177]

Since Jayalalithaa’s death, several filmmakers have announced biopics on the politician, with five currently in production. In Janu-
ary 2017, Telugu filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao registered the title Amma and began preparing for a biopic on the politician. The
film was being planned with Anushka Shetty in the lead role, but Rao’s death in May 2017 effectively ended the project, despite
indications that Mohan Babu may revive it.[178][179] Producer Adithya Bharadwaj announced that his team were over a year into
pre-production work for a proposed biopic of Jayalalithaa, during December 2017. Titled Thaai: Puratchi Thalaivi, he revealed that
it would predominantly be a fictionalised retelling of her story with some real life footage also included. Bharadwaj suggested that
he had briefly touched upon the possibility of a biopic with Jayalalithaa when she was alive, but the script had to be reworked fol-
lowing her death. Despite his suggestions that the film would begin production in January 2018, the project did not take off.[180]
[181] Soon after news emerged about Vijay’s and Priyadarshini’s biopics in August 2018, Adithya reconfirmed that Bharathiraja
had been signed to be the director of the film. He added that the team were considering either Aishwarya Rai or Anushka Shetty
for the role of Jayalalithaa, and either Kamal Haasan or Mohanlal for the role of M. G. Ramachandran.[182]

In August 2018, producer Vishnu Vardhan Induri of Vibri Media announced that he was working on a biopic of Jayalalithaa, and
that A. L. Vijay would direct the project.[183] The team announced that pre-production work and research was ongoing and that
the film would focus on the personal life of the politician, showing her vulnerable side. Actresses including Nayanthara and Vidya
Balan were approached by Vijay to star in the lead role, while Sai Pallavi was considered for the supporting role of V. K. Sasikala.
[184][185][186] Within a day of Induri’s announcement, director Priyadarshini announced that she had also been working for four
months on the pre-production of a biopic, which would be launched in September 2018. Priyadarshini suggested that she had
four scripts ready, with each focusing on different aspects of Jayalalithaa’s life, and that the narration would be balanced by show-
ing both her positive and negative sides.[187][186] Titled The Iron Lady, Nithya Menen was signed on to play the lead role, while
Aishwarya Rajesh and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar were in talks for a supporting role for the character of Sasikala.[188][189][190]

Another biopic to be shot as a web-series by Gautham Menon became the fourth such announcement of a related project in Au-
gust 2018.[191] Production on the series progressed quietly throughout late 2018, with Ramya Krishnan selected to play Jayalali-
thaa, and Indrajith and Vamsi Krishna portraying M. G. Ramchandran and Sobhan Babu respectively.[192][193] In October 2018,
Sasikala’s nephew Jeyanandh Dhivakaran announced a further biopic on Jayalalithaa, which would focus more on her relationship
with Sasikala and M. Natarajan. Director Linguswamy was signed on to the project, and began pre-production work by meeting
close aides and politicians of Jayalalithaa.[194]

Legislative career
Elections contested
Year Constituency Result Vote percentage Opposition Candidate Opposition Party
Opposition vote percentage
1989 Bodinayakkanur Won 54.51 Muthumanokaran DMK 27.27[195]
1991 Bargur Won 69.3 T. Rajendar TMK 29.34[104]
1991 Kangayam Won 63.4 N. S. Rajkumar Mandradiar DMK 32.85[196]
1996 Bargur Lost 43.54 E. G. Sugavanam DMK 50.71[104]
2001 Andipatti, Krishnagiri, Bhuvanagiri, Pudukkottai Nomination rejected[197]

2002 Andipatti Won 58.22 Vaigai Sekar DMK 27.64[118]
2006 Andipatti Won 55.04 Seeman DMK 36.29[198]
2011 Srirangam Won 58.99 N Anand DMK 35.55[199][200]
2015 R.K. Nagar Won 88.43 C Mahendran CPI 5.35[201]
2016 R.K. Nagar Won 55.87 Shimla Muthuchozhan DMK 33.14[202]
Awards and honours
In 1972, Jayalalithaa was awarded the Kalaimamani by the Government of Tamil Nadu.[203]
She has received several honorary doctorates and other honours, beginning with an award from
the University of Madras in 1991.[203][204

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