J. Jayalalithaa

In this Tamil name, there is no surname or family name. The name Jayaram is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Jayalalithaa.

J. Jayalalithaa
Jayalalithaa in 2015
5th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
In office
23 May 2015 – 5 December 2016
Governor
Cabinet
Preceded byO. Panneerselvam
Succeeded byO. Panneerselvam
ConstituencyDr. Radhakrishnan Nagar
In office
16 May 2011 – 27 September 2014
Governor
CabinetJayalalithaa IV
Preceded byM. Karunanidhi
Succeeded byO. Panneerselvam
ConstituencySrirangam
In office
2 March 2002 – 12 May 2006
Governor
CabinetJayalalithaa III
Preceded byO. Panneerselvam
Succeeded byM. Karunanidhi
ConstituencyAndipatti
In office
14 May 2001 – 21 September 2001
Governor
CabinetJayalalithaa II
Preceded byM. Karunanidhi
Succeeded byO. Panneerselvam
ConstituencyDid not contest
In office
24 June 1991 – 12 May 1996
Governor
CabinetJayalalithaa I
Preceded byPresident's rule
Succeeded byM. Karunanidhi
ConstituencyBargur
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
3 April 1984 – 28 January 1989
Leader of the House
Preceded bySathiavani Muthu
Succeeded byPasumpon Tha. Kiruttinan
ConstituencyTamil Nadu
9th Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
In office
29 May 2006 – 14 May 2011
DeputyO. Panneerselvam
Chief MinisterM. Karunanidhi
Preceded byO. Panneerselvam
Succeeded byVijayakant
ConstituencyAndipatti
In office
9 February 1989 – 1 December 1989
DeputySu. Thirunavukkarasar
Chief MinisterM. Karunanidhi
Preceded byO. Subramanian
Succeeded byS. R. Eradha
ConstituencyBodinayakkanur
Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
In office
4 July 2015 – 5 December 2016
Chief MinisterHerself
Preceded byP. Vetrivel
Succeeded byT. T. V. Dhinakaran
ConstituencyDr. Radhakrishnan Nagar
In office
23 May 2011 – 27 September 2014
Chief MinisterHerself
Preceded byM. Paranjothi
Succeeded byS. Valarmathi
ConstituencySrirangam
In office
24 February 2002 – 14 May 2011
Chief Minister
Preceded byThanga Tamil Selvan
Succeeded byThanga Tamil Selvan
ConstituencyAndipatti
In office
1 July 1991 – 12 May 1996
Chief MinisterHerself
Preceded byK. R. Rajendran
Succeeded byE. G. Sugavanam
ConstituencyBargur
In office
1 July 1991 – 23 July 1991
Chief MinisterHerself
Preceded byP. Marapan
Succeeded byR. M. Veerappan
ConstituencyKangayam
In office
6 February 1989 – 30 January 1991
Chief MinisterM. Karunanidhi
Preceded byK. S. M. Ramachandran
Succeeded byV. Panneerselvam
ConstituencyBodinayakkanur
5th General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
In office
1 January 1988[a] – 5 December 2016
Preceded byM. G. Ramachandran
Succeeded byEdappadi K. Palaniswami
Propaganda Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
In office
5 September 1985 – 31 December 1987
General Secretary
In office
28 January 1983 – 20 August 1984
Party PresidentM. G. Ramachandran
General SecretaryP. U. Shanmugam
Preceded byR. Manimaran
Personal details
Born(1948-02-24)24 February 1948
Melukote, Mysore State, Dominion of India
(present-day Karnataka, India)
Died5 December 2016(2016-12-05) (aged 68)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Cause of deathCardiac arrest
Resting placeM.G.R. and Amma Memorial
Political partyAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
RelativesDeepa Jayakumar (niece)
Residence(s)Veda Nilayam,
81, Poes Garden, Teynampet, Chennai – 600086, Tamil Nadu, India
Alma mater
Profession
  • Film actress
  • classical dancer
  • singer
  • writer
  • politician
  • philanthropist
Awards
Signature
Nickname(s)Amma
Puratchi Thalaivi
Kalai Selvi
Makkalaal Naan Makkalukaagavae Naan
("I am by the people for the people")

Jayaram Jayalalithaa[b] (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 1 January 1988 to 5 December 2016, she was the 5th and longest-serving general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK),[4] a Dravidian party whose cadre revered her as their "Amma" (Mother) and "Puratchi Thalaivi" (Revolutionary leader).[5]

Jayalalithaa rose to prominence as a leading film actress in the mid-1960s. Though she had begun her acting career reluctantly at her mother's behest to support the family, Jayalalithaa was a prolific actor. She appeared in 140 films between 1961 and 1980, primarily in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages. Jayalalithaa received praise for her versatility as an actress and her dancing skills, earning the sobriquet "Queen of Tamil Cinema".[6]

Among her frequent co-stars was M. G. Ramachandran. In 1982, when M. G. Ramachandran was Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa joined AIADMK, the party he founded. Her political rise was rapid; within a few years she became AIADMK propaganda secretary and was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's Parliament. After M.G.R.'s death in 1987, Jayalalithaa proclaimed herself as his political heir and, having fought off the faction headed by M.G.R.'s widow, V. N. Janaki Ramachandran, emerged as the sole leader of the AIADMK. Following the 1989 election, she became Leader of the Opposition to the DMK-led government led by M. Karunanidhi, her bête noire.

In 1991, Jayalalithaa became Chief Minister for the first time and was Tamil Nadu's youngest. 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 V. N. Sudhakaran (Sasikala's elder sister son) on 7 September 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 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 minister 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 unpopular. 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 included several subsidised "Amma"-branded goods such as canteens, bottled water, salt and cement. Three years into her tenure, she was convicted 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 M.G.R 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 and became the first female chief minister in India to die in office.

Jayalalithaa never married and had no children.[7]

On 29 May 2020, her nephew, J. Deepak, and niece, Deepa Jayakumar, were declared as her legal heirs by Madras High Court.[8] Her critics in the media and the opposition accused her of fostering a personality cult and of demanding absolute loyalty from AIADMK legislators and ministers.[9]

  1. ^ "Fight over symbol: A 'leaf' from history". the hindu. 23 March 2017. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  2. ^ Shashi Tharoor (23 December 2001). "'Scrabble' in real life". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 March 2002. Retrieved 23 December 2001.
  3. ^ Mittal, Tusha. "Chasing The Poll Stars". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2016.. May 2009.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference JayaGenSecy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "PURATCHI THALAIVI JAYALALITHAA". The Times of India. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Jayalalithaa death: Telugu stars mourn Amma's loss!". Zee News. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  7. ^ "How a leader's companion rose in political power in Tamil Nadu". South China Morning Post. 11 February 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Jayalalithaa's niece and nephew declared legal heirs, can claim her properties". The News Minute. 27 May 2020.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference outlook20110321 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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