Tamil Nadu came to a standstill on Tuesday. One of the iconic leaders of Indian politics, Jayalalithaa, died on Monday after fighting the battle for 74 days. She has been laid to rest at the MGR Memorial in Kamaraj Salai. Here we take a look at the life of this Iconic leader:
Born in 1948 as Komalavalli to Jayaram and Vedavalli in a Brahmin family in the South Indian state of Karnataka, Jaya moved to Chennai in 1959 following the demise of her father and continued her schooling at Sacred Heart Matriculation School.
A topper in SSLC, she was offered full scholarship by Stella Maris College but due to her family situations she denied the offer and made her debut as the leading lady in Vennira Aadai (1965) directed by CV Sridhar.
She went on to act in over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi film industries. She was the most sought-after and popular actress of the 70s and became the 'Queen of Tamil Cinema'. Interestingly, she did 28 movies with actor-turned-politician M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) and they were considered as one of the most successful onscreen pairs.
In 1980, she bid adieu to films to pursue a career in politics. Her last films were Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal in Tamil and Nayakudu and Vinayakudu in Telugu.
In 1982, she joined AIADMK on the advice of her mentor MGR and 1983 she became the propaganda secretary and a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament.
In 1987, the ADMK split into two after the demise of MGR -- one was headed by MGR's wife Janaki and other by Jayalalithaa. In 1986, Jaya took over the party completely.
In 1991, she came back like a phoenix and become the CM of Tamil Nadu defeating DMK. However, her party faced severe corruption allegations and lost the elections in 1996.
In 2001, the AIADMK won the elections and Jaya were once again throned as the CM. But the High Court nullified her term due to the DA case.
Once again, in 2002 the court overturned her conviction and she resumed charge. But Amma lost the 2006 polls.
In 2011, she became the Chief Minister for the third time. And, after proving all the allegations wrong, she created history by retaining power in 2016, breaking the 20-year old political pattern in TN.
On September 22, 2016, Amma was admitted at Apollo Hospital, Chennai, after she complained of fever and dehydration.
On December 4, when the party said that she has recovered and will return home soon, she suffered a severe cardiac arrest.
After fighting the battle for 74 days, Amma succumbed to death on December 5, 2016, at 11.30 pm. She was laid to rest at the MGR Memorial in Marina Beach.
A strong orator, iconic leader, brave woman, Jaya will always stay in the hearts of her followers forever.
