Jayalalithaa

In this Indian name, the name Jayaram is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Jayalalithaa.

J Jayalalithaa
ஜெ ஜெயலலிதா
Jayalalithaa in 2014
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
In office 23 May 2015 – 5 December 2016
Governor	C. Vidyasagar Rao
Preceded by	O. Panneerselvam
Succeeded by	O. Panneerselvam
Constituency	Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar
In office 16 May 2011 – 27 September 2014
Preceded by	Karunanidhi
Succeeded by	O. Panneerselvam
Constituency	Srirangam
In office 2 March 2002 – 12 May 2006
Preceded by	O. Panneerselvam
Succeeded by	Karunanidhi
Constituency	Andipatti
In office 14 May 2001 – 21 September 2001
Preceded by	Karunanidhi
Succeeded by	O. Panneerselvam
Constituency	Did not contest
In office 24 June 1991 – 12 May 1996
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	Karunanidhi
Constituency	Bargur
Personal details
Born	Jayalalitha Komalavalli (1948-02-24)24 February 1948 Mandya, Mysore State (now Karnataka), India
Died	5 December 2016(2016-12-05) (aged 68) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Political party	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Profession	Actress, politician
Religion	Hinduism

Jayalalithaa Jayaram (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian actress and politician who served five terms 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 Dravidian party whose cadre revered her as their Amma (mother) and Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader), among other honorifics.

Jayalalithaa first came into prominence as a leading film actor in the mid-1960s. Though she had entered the profession very reluctantly, only upon the urging of her mother to help support the family, Jayalalithaa worked prolifically. She appeared in 140 films from 1961 to 1980, primarily in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film industries. Jayalalithaa received praise for her versatility as an actor and for her dancing skills. Among her frequent co-stars was M. G. Ramachandran, or MGR, a Tamil cultural icon who leveraged his immense popularity with the masses into a successful political career. In 1982, when MGR was serving his second term as chief minister, Jayalalithaa joined the AIADMK, the party MGR founded. Her political rise was rapid; within a few years she was made AIADMK 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. Following the 1989 election, she'became Leader of the Opposition to the DMK 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 a punishing work ethic and for centralising state power among a coterie of bureaucrats; her council of ministers, whom she often shuffled around, were largely ceremonial in nature. 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 Madras in 1995. In the 1996 election, the AIADMK was nearly wiped out at the hustings; Jayalalithaa herself lost her seat. The new Karunanidhi government quickly 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 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 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 her staunch loyalist O. Panneerselvam. Upon her acquittal six months later, Jayalalithaa returned as chief minister to complete her term. Her government was noted for its ruthlessness; midnight arrests of political opponents abound. The unpopularity of these moves—the AIADMK scored a duck in the 2004 general election—forced her to reverse them, though she was able to contain the DMK's victory margin in the 2006 assembly election.

In the 2011 assembly election, the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK and its allies routed the ruling, scandal-tainted DMK's alliance. Sworn in as chief minister for the fourth time, her government embarked on an ambitious programme of social welfare and development. However, three years into her tenure, a trial court convicted her in a disproportionate assets case in September 2014, rendering her disqualified to hold office. After eight months, which included a twenty-day stint in jail, Jayalalithaa was acquitted of all charges by the Karnataka High Court and once again sworn-in as chief minister 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 a 75-day period of hospitalization, she died on 5 December 2016 after failing to recover from a 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 Karnataka) to Jayaram and Vedavalli in a Tamil Brahmin (Iyengar) family. Jayalalitha was given her grandmother's name Koamalavalli at the time of birth. As per Brahmin custom, 2 names are given – one ancestral grandmother name and other being the personal name. The personal name Jayalalitha was adopted at the age of 1 for the purpose of using the same in school and colleges. It was derived 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. Vedavalli was given in marriage to Narasimhan Rengachary's son, Jayaram. 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.

Jayalalitha's father, Jayaram, was a lawyer but never worked and squandered most of the family money. He died when Jayalalitha 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 Madras, working as an air hostess. She also started acting in drama and films using the screen name Vidyaavathy from 1951. 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. Jayalalitha 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. 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 completed 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 appears not to have accepted the admission offer from Stella Maris College. She was fluent in several languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam and English.

Her brother Jayakumar, his wife Vijayalakshmi and his daughter Deepa lived in T.Nagar Chennai. Her brother died in 1995 in an accident

Film career

See also: Jayalalitha filmography

Early career

In Chennai, Jayalalitha trained in classical music, western classical piano, and various forms of classical dance, including Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam, Manipuri and Kathak. She learnt Bharatnatyam and dance forms under K.J.Sarasa. She became an accomplished dancer and gave her debut dance performance at the Rasika Ranjani Sabha in Mylapore in May 1960. The Chief Guest at the Arangetram was Shivaji Ganesan , who expressed wish that Jayalalitha becomes a film star in future.

While a child, Jayalalithaa acted in the Kannada-language film Sri Shaila Mahathme (1961), which had Rajkumar and Krishna Kumari in lead roles. She had been taken to the studio by her mother as she was shooting in the same premises for a different film. While Jayalalithaa was watching the shooting, a problem arose as the child actor 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 Jayalalitha could be asked to act in the dance sequence. Sandhya agreed and Jayalalitha was swiftly dressed up as Parvathy and the scene was shot.

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 Jayalalitha 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.

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 Jayalalitha would be studying for her PUC in two months' time, Sandhya had declined the offer initially. Sandhya agreed when that promise was made and Jayalalithaa started acting and she was paid ₹3,000 (equivalent to ₹110,000 or US$1,700 in 2016). 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 an ambition to be a lawyer. But the Kannada debut film became a blockbuster in 1964 and she became a well-known face. Meanwhile, Jayalalithaa continued acting in Parthasarathy's plays. She played the leading role in plays such as Malathi, The Whole Truth, and the dance drama Kaveri Thanda Kalaiselvi between 1960 and 1966. She made her debut as the lead actress in Kannada films while still in school, age 15, in Chinnada Gombe (1964). She also appeared in a dance sequence of a song named "Malligeya Hoovinantha" in the movie Amarashilpi Jakannachari (1964).

She made her debut in Tamil theatre in April 1964, when she played a sales girl in the drama named Undersecretary. Parthasarthy and Sandhya were the lead characters, while Jayalalitha and Cho Ramaswamy were paired together and A. R. Srinivasan was also involved. The play was based on the lives of middle aged couple and Jayalaitha played character of sales girl in the drama. Her performance caused Parthasarthy to make her lead heroine in a drama named Malathy. Meanwhile, the films she had shot during her vacation in April–May 1964 – Chinnada Gombe and Manushulu Mamathalu – became blockbusters. By end of 1965 she had become popular among film producers and directors. She was approached by C. V. Sridhar for her Tamil film debut as well. Between 1964 and 1966 she did around 35 shows of drama named Malathy and later discontinued as she became very busy in films.It was during the year 1964, financial debts had increased of Sandhaya and she suggested her daughter to make use of the increasing film offers coming her way.

Jayalalithaa's debut in Tamil cinema was the leading role in Vennira Aadai (1965), directed by C. V. Sridhar. She made her debut in Telugu films as lead actress in Manushulu Mamathalu opposite Akkineni Nageshwara Rao. Her last Telugu release was also opposite Akkineni Nageswara Rao in the film Nayakudu Vinayakudu, which was released in 1980. She was the first heroine to appear in skirts in Tamil films. She acted in one Hindi film called Izzat, with Dharmendra as her male costar in 1968. She starred in 28 box-office hit films with M.G. Ramachandran between 1965 and 1973. The first with MGR was B.R. Panthalu's Aayirathil Oruvan in 1965 and their last film together was Pattikaattu Ponnaiya in 1973.

She had 11 successful releases in Tamil in 1966. In the opening credits of Arasa Katalai, for the first time her name was affixed with the phrase Kavarchi Kanni. In 1967 she bought her bungalow, Veda Nilayam, in Poes Gardens for ₹1.32 lakh (equivalent to ₹49 lakh or US$73,000 in 2016). Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar was on the lookout for a regular heroine for his production after he had fight with the actress Savithri after the release of Vetaikkaran, and he signed Jayalalitha on in 1965. She became a regular heroine for production house Devar films from 1966.

Jaishankar was romantically paired with Jayalalithaa in eight Tamil films including Muthuchippi, Yaar Nee?, Nee (film), Vairam, Vandhale Magarasi, Bommalattam (1968 film) (1968), Raja Veetu Pillai and Avalukku Aayiram Kangal whereas the films Thanga Gopuram and Gowri Kalyanam had him play elder brother to her. Jayalalitha acted in twelve films as heroine opposite N. T. Rama Rao, in Telugu – Gopaludu Bhoopaludu (1967), Chikkadu Dorakadu (1967), Tikka Shankaraiah (1968), Niluvu Dopidi (1968), Baghdad Gaja Donga (1968), Kathanayakudu (1969 film) (1969), Kadaladu Vadaladu (1969), Gandikota Rahasyam (1969), Ali Baba 40 Dongalu (1970), Shri Krishna Vijayam (1970), Shri Krishna Satya (1971), Devudu Chesina Manushulu (1973). Jayalalitha had 7 films with Akkineni Nageswara Rao in Telugu – Manashulu Mamatalu (1965), Aastiparulu (1966), Brahmachari (1968), Aadarsa Kutumbam (1969), Adrushtavanthalu (1969), Bharya Biddalu (1971), Nayakudu Vinayakudu (1980). She also made guest appearance in Telugu film Navarthi (1966). Her films in Telugu included two films with Krishna and one each with Sobhan Babu, Jaggaiah, Ramakrishna and Haranath. In 1969, in Tamil Conference held, she was given the tag of Kaviri Thandha Kalai Selvi. She has been given on-screen credit as Kalai Selvi in most of her Tamil films since 1967.

Later career

List of Best Actress awards for J.Jayalalithaa

Award	Wins
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress	5
Tamil Nadu Cinema Fan Award for Best Actress	8
Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Tamil	5
Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu	1
Russian Film festival	1
Madras Film Association Awards for Best Actress	7

She acted with Ravichandran in 10 Tamil hit films including Gowri Kalyanam (1966), Kumari Penn (1966), Naan (1967), Magarasi (1967), Maadi Veettu Mappilai (1967), Panakkara Pillai (1968), Moondru Yezhuthu (1968), Andru Kanda Mugam (1968), Avalukku Aayiram Kangal and Baghdad Perazhagi (1974). In 1972, Jayalalithaa acted opposite Sivaji Ganesan in Pattikada Pattanama, which went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil in 1973. It fetched her a Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Her performances in Chandhrodhayam, Adimai Penn, Engirundho Vandhaal fetched her Special Award from Filmfare and Tamil Nadu government in 1966,1969 and 1970. Her performance in Pattikada Pattanama, Suryagandhi were critically acclaimed and won her Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1972 and 1973 respectively. In 1973, she acted in the Telugu Sri Krishna Satya which won her Filmfare Award for Best Actress in Telugu. Her other films with Sivaji Ganesan include Galatta Kalyanam 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. Jayalalitha was paired opposite Sivaji Ganesan in 17 films as his heroine and as his daughter in their first film named Motoram Sunderapillai. Jayalalitha had 6 films with R. Muthuraman as a romantic leading pair – Dhikku Theriyadha Kaattil, Thirumangalyam, Kanavan Manaivi, Avandhan Manidhan, Suryagandhi, Anbu Thangai whereas Muthuraman played supporting roles in Kannan En Kadhalan, Major Chandrakanth, Naan (1967 film), En Annan, Adi Parashakti, Thaer Thiruvizha, Dharmam Engey, Chitra Pournami and Oru Thaai Makkal. She later appeared opposite Sivakumar in Kandan Karunai and Shri Krishna Leelai and Sivakumar played supporting roles in Shakti Leelai, Yarrukum Vetkam Ilali, Thirumangalyam, Annaivelakanni, Kavalkaran, Motoram Sunderapillai and Ganga Gowri. She made her debut in Malayalam with Jesus(1973) and the film was huge hit. Her 100th film was Thirumangalyam released in 1974 directed by A.Vincent. 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 the 1980 picture Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal but the last film she worked on, in which she played the lead heroine, was a Telugu film in 1980, named Nayakudu Vinayakudu, which became the highest grosser of the year in Telugu. During the 1960s and 1970s, she starred opposite M. G. Ramachandran in a number of successful films, including Aayirathil Oruvan, Kavalkaran, Adimai Penn, Engal Thangam, Kudiyirundha Koyil, Ragasiya Police 115 and Nam Naadu. Cho Ramaswamy casted her in the lead role in his directorial venture Yarrukkum Vetkam Illai.

The heroes of her films never objected to the title of the film being conferred on the female lead played by Jayalalitha. 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, 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.

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 Tamil actress with maximum silver jubilee hits in her career – 85 hits of 92 Tamil films as main female lead heroine 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 appearances in 9 films and 6 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. Jayalalitha made a brief appearance as a chief minister crusading for prohibition in 1992 Neenga Nalla Irukkanum.

Jayalalithaa won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress for Thanga Gopuram in 1971, Raman Thediya Seethai in 1972, Suryagandhi in 1973, Thirumangalyam in 1974, Yarukkum Vetkam Illai in 1975. Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress were not given in the years 1971 to 1976. However, in 1977, the awards for Best Actress and Best Actor were announced for the years 1971 to 1976 by way of honorary certificates by the government led by the then chief minister, Ramachandran.

She has done mythological films like Kandan Karunai, Aadhi Parashakti, Shri Krishna Satya, Shri Krishna Vijayam, Shri Rama Katha, Shri Krishna Leelai, 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. She and Saroja Devi have been cited as the first female superstars of Tamil Cinema. She did double roles in eight films.

The directors who regularly casted her in their films include C. V. Rajendran, A. Bhimsingh, K. Shankar, B. R. Panthulu, P. Neelakantan, K. S. Gopalakrishnan, A. C. Tirulokchandar, T. R. Ramanna, Muktha Srinivasan and M.A. Thirumugam.

From 1968 to 1973 Jaya at peak of career took interviews and wrote columns in the magazines like Bommai.She wrote a column-Ennanga 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.Journalist Brian Laul had written in a magazine an article specifying Jayalalitha was trying for a comeback but was not being offered any roles. Jayalalitha 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 opposite in Billa opposite Rajnikanth. She added she wanted to pursue other interests and was not interested in pursuing her film career any further.

Political career

Early political career

Jayalalithaa claims that MGR, who had been chief minister for the state since 1977, was instrumental in introducing her to politics. In 1982, she joined the AIADMK, which was founded by MGR. Her maiden public speech, "Pennin Perumai" ("The Greatness of a Woman"), was delivered at the AIADMK's political conference in the same year. In 1983, she became propaganda secretary for the party and was selected as its candidate in the by-election for the Tiruchendur Assembly constituency.

MGR wanted her to be a member of the Rajya Sabha because of her fluency in English. Jayalalithaa was nominated and 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.

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. She successfully led the campaign in the 1984 general elections, in which the ADMK allied with the Congress. Following his death in 1987, the AIADMK split into two factions: one supported his widow, Janaki Ramachandran, and the other favoured Jayalalithaa. 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.

Jayalalithaa contested the subsequent 1989 elections on the basis of being MGR's political heir.

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 woman 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.

On 25 March 1989, amidst heavy violence inside the house among the ruling DMK party members and the opposition. Jayalilatha was brutally attacked and visibly molested by the ruling DMK members 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.

First term as Chief Minister, 1991

In 1991, following the assassination 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 victory. The ADMK alliance with the Congress won 225 out of the 234 seats contested and won all 39 constituencies in the centre. Re-elected to the assembly, she became the first female, and the youngest, chief minister, of Tamil Nadu, to serve a full term, serving from 24 June 1991 to 12 May 1996. 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. Her party had 26 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 police stations. There were other all-women establishments like libraries, stores, banks and co-operative elections. She began to be referred as Thanga Gopuram, Thanga Chillai and Thanga Tharagai (Golden Maiden) by her followers.

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. Jayalalithaa was herself defeated by the DMK candidate in Bargur Constituency. The outcome has been attributed to an anti-incumbency sentiment and several allegations of corruption and malfeasance against her and her ministers. The wedding event of her foster son Sudhakaran, who married a granddaughter of the Tamil film actor Shivaji Ganesan, was held on 7 September 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. Subsequently, in November 2011, Jayalalithaa told a special court than the entire ₹6 crore (equivalent to ₹25 crore or US$3.7 million in 2016) expenses associated with the wedding were paid by the family of the bride. There were several corruption cases filed against her by the ruling DMK government headed by Karunanidhi. Jayalalitha was arrested 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 ₹42 crore or US$6.3 million in 2016). 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 Jayalalitha's residence as hers. She earlier filed an anticipatory bail in the trial court, which was rejected on 7 December 1996. 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.

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, including 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. 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. 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.

Her appointment was legally voided in September 2001 when the Supreme Court ruled that she could not hold it whilst convicted of criminal acts. 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.

Subsequently, in March 2003, Jayalalithaa assumed the position of Chief Minister once more, having been acquitted of some charges by the Madras High Court. 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. 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.

Jayalaithaa with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Third term as Chief Minister, 2011

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. On 19 December 2011, Jayalalithaa expelled her long-time close aide Sasikala Natarajan and 13 others from the AIADMK. Most of the party members welcomed her decision, 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. The matter was resolved by 31 March when Sasikala Natarajan was reinstated as a party member after issuing a written apology.

Disproportionate Assets case, 2014

See also: Disproportionate Asset case against Jayalalithaa

On 27 September 2014, Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years in jail and fined ₹100 crore (equivalent to ₹112 crore or US$17 million in 2016) by the Special Court in Bangalore. She was convicted in an 18-year-old disproportionate 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. Jayalalithaa'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 ₹11 crore or US$1.7 million in 2016) each. Special Judge John Michael D'Cunha convicted her to owning assets to the tune of ₹66.65 crore (equivalent to ₹255 crore or US$38 million in 2016) (which includes 2,000 acres (810 ha) of land, 30 kilograms (66 lb) of gold and 12,000 saris) disproportionate 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 was the first Indian chief minister to be disqualified. O. Panneerselvam, a minister in her party, succeeded her as the Chief Minister on 29 September 2014. On 17 October 2014, the Supreme Court granted her two months' bail and suspended her sentence. On 11 May 2015, a special Bench of the Karnataka High Court set aside her conviction on appeal, acquitting her and also her alleged associates – Sasikala Natarajan, her niece Ilavarasi, her nephew, and her disowned foster son Sudhakaran.

Return as Chief Minister, 2015

The acquittal allowed her once again to hold office and on 23 May 2015, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the fifth time. She was subsequently re-elected by the electorate of the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar (State Assembly Constituency) 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 1.6 lakh votes.

Elected as Chief Minister in 2016

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. She was the second Chief Minister after MGR to serve consecutive terms as Chief Minister. 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."

Death

On 22 September 2016, Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, as she suffered from infection and acute dehydration. Her official duties were handed over to her aide O. Panneerselvam on 12 October. She was also said to be suffering from severe pulmonary infection and septicaemia, which were cured. On December 4, she was re-admitted to the critical care unit after suffering a cardiac arrest around 16:45. The hospital released a press statement stating that her condition was "very critical" and that she was on life support. On December 5, the hospital officially announced her death 23:30 IST.

The central government declared a one day national mourning with the national flag in all government buildings flying at half-mast, while the state of Tamil Nadu declared seven days of mourning, Her 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 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. Various film celebrities including Rajinikanth, Vijay, Dhamu, Nayantara,Prabhu,Suriya, Sivakarthikeyan, STR, Vijay Sethupathi, Sarathkumar, Radha Ravi, Vyjanthimala, Vadivelu, Ilaiyaraaja, Sachu, Sivakumar, Saroja Devi, Thanu, Karthi, Ponvannan, Nassar, Vishal, Vivek, Khushoo, Sundar C, Vijayakumar, Arun Vijay, Revati, Simran and politicians paid homage to her at Rajaji Hall which included President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, C. Vidyasagar Rao, M.K. Stalin, Vaiko, Vijaykanth, Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Venkaiah Naidu and Pon Radhakrishnan and more. The final rites were performed by her nephew Deepak Jayakumar.

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
1991	Bargur	Won	69.3	T. Rajendar	TMK	29.34
1991	Kangayam	Won	63.4	N. S. Rajkumar Mandradiar	DMK	32.85
1996	Bargur	Lost	43.54	E. G. Sugavanam	DMK	50.71
2002	Andipatti	Won	58.22	Vaigai Sekar	DMK	27.64
2006	Andipatti	Won	55.04	Seeman	DMK	36.29
2011	Srirangam	Won	58.99	N Anand	DMK	35.55
2015	R.K. Nagar	Won	88.43	C Mahendran	CPI	5.35
2016	R.K. Nagar	Won	55.87	Shimla Muthuchozhan	DMK	33.14

Awards and honours

In 1972, Jayalalithaa was awarded the Kalaimamani by the Government of Tamil Nadu. She has received several honorary doctorates and other honours, beginning with an award from the University of Madras in 1991.

Further reading

• Ramaswamy, Vijaya (2007). Historical dictionary of the Tamils. United States: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-470-82958-5. 
• Swaminathan, Roopa (2002). M.G. Ramachandran: Jewel of the Masses. Rupa Publications. p. 1986. ISBN 9788171678976. 
• Velayutham, Selvaraj (2008). Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry. Routledge. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-415-39680-6. 
• Sir Stanley Reed, ed. (1983). The Times of India directory and year book including who's who. Bennett Coleman. Times of India Press. 
• Vassanthi (2008). Cut-outs, Caste and Cines Stars. Penguin Books India. ISBN 9780143063124. 
• Vanitha, Rose (2005). Love's Rite. Penguin Books India. ISBN 9780144000593. 
• Das, Sumita (2005). Refugee Management: Sri Lankan Refugges in Tamil Nadu, 1983–2000. Mittal publications. ISBN 9788183240666. 
• Jagmohan (2007). My Frozen Turbulence In Kashmir. Allied Publishers. ISBN 9788181242174. 

External links

• Profile at BBC News
• Jayalalithaa: From Alluring Actress to Powerful Politician-by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
• BBC News article – Jayalalitha returns to power (dated 2 March 2002)
• BBC – Controversial life of Jayalalitha
• BBC Hardtalk RealPlayer video of Jayalalitha (RealPlayer required)
• J.Jayalalitha at the Internet Movie Database