The chief minister of Tamil Nadu, leader to many Tamils and ‘Amma’ to millions, J Jayalalithaa died on Monday, 5 Dec 2016 after undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai for 73 days. She was 68.
Jayalalithaa , who was admitted to hospital on September 22 with complaints of fever and dehydration, suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. On Monday, Jayalalithaa continued to be very critical and was on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and life support systems. And the end came at 11.30pm.
Born on February 24, 1948, Jayalalithaa entered films when she was 16 years old. Making her debut as lead actress in a Kannada film, she was launched into Tamil films starring as the heroine in MGR’s “Ayirathil Oruvan.” Jayalalithaa and MGR acted together in 28 films, many of them super hits. She acted in more than 140 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and English.
Her formal entry into politics happened in 1982 when she was inducted into AIADMK by her mentor and former co-star MGR. She was given key responsibilities, including in the implementation of the landmark noon-meals scheme that taught her lessons in welfare politics. When MGR fell ill, she campaigned extensively for the party that won the 1984 election. After his death in 1987, she took charge of the party and became chief minister in 1991. Since then she had been chief minister for three terms, coming back to power for the fourth term in 2016.
Her political life was marred by corruption allegations. She was convicted in four corruption cases and had to step down from chief minister twice but higher courts acquitted her and she was able to come back to power.
She was such a popular leader that every person used to pray for her in her sickness and they respected her like a deity, she lived to serve her people and society in general. She kept people united and always conveyed the message of PEACE, HARMONY and PROSPERITY.
We stand united in such a loss and We pray to almighty to give strength to all of us, May her Soul REST IN PEACE.
