Jayalalithaa was barred from contesting the elections again in 2001 as her public image was marred by the alleged corruption charges. Despite the hurdles, AIADMK swept the elections and Jayalalithaa was re-elected as the Chief Minister. The past decade has not been very kind to the former superstar as she lost the next state elections to the Opposition leader Karunanidhi, whose feud with the CM was evident in the media. After losing the next state elections she swore to come back with a bang and became the CM of Tamil Nadu for the third time in 2011.

In 2014, the infamous Disproportionate Assets case once again made it difficult for the Chief Minister to stay at peace. She was charged and sentenced to 4 years in prison along with a 100-crore fine. However, after a long and murky battle with the law, Jayalalithaa and her associates were acquitted. She finally came back and won the state elections in May 2016 for the  fourth time. She said in her victory speech, “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,” she said in her victory speech.