The CM, who was admitted in Apollo hospital, Chennai since September 22, suffered a cardiac arrest on December 4th; Post which her condition was being monitored by an expert team of pulmonologists and cardiologists. She has now been laid to rest beside her mentor M.G. Ramachandran.
Life has not always been a bed of roses for the political leader and as we remember the Iron lady of TN, we look at the times she’s proved she’s a fierce fighter and a survivor.
By Deepa Kalukuri
Life threw difficulties at Jayalalithaa right from her childhood. She lost her father, Jayaram at the tender age of 2 and was single-handedly raised by her actress mother Sandhya. In an interview with yesteryear star and talk show host Simi Garewal, the CM spoke of the difficulties she had to go through as a child, as her mother was a busy working woman. She spoke of how much she missed her mother and would breakdown time and again. She grew up in Bangalore while her mother was residing in Chennai. In some more interviews during the 90s, Jayalalithaa discussed about the emotional turbulence that she went through during those years.
When Jayalalithaa moved to Chennai to stay with her mother, she was introduced to the world of movies. She learnt classical dance and excelled in her education. However, she confessed in an interview with Simi Garewal that she was forced to enter the film industry by her mother and she always wanted to be a lawyer. She couldn’t refuse her mother’s aspirations and the rest is history.
By the time Jayalalithaa was in her early 20s she was already a top star and had worked with many legends across the South Indian film industry. Tabloids during the early 70s rocked with the alleged reports of her affair with an already married Telugu superstar, Shobhan Babu. Jayalalithaa has reportedly confessed to have been smitten by the Tollywood star. However, the pair never chose to speak up about the ‘alleged affair’ and she fought the rumours and allegations of being a ‘homewrecker’ and won millions of hearts with a line up successful movies.
Her co-star of many films M.G Ramachandran, a huge superstar and the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu introduced her to the the world of politics. As Jayalalithaa was fluent in English language, she was MGR’s most represented candidate in the National politics. Their age-gap did no harm to their on-screen chemistry and soon the duo were topping the headlines. The AIADMK party members were divided between their support to the wife of MGR, Janaki Ramachandran and to the now popular star, Jayalalithaa. In a candid chat with Simi, the CM said she was humiliated and insulted post MGR’s death by the very men who later hailed her as the leader of the ruling party. She said, the day she was humiliated she decided she will fight for her dignity and in less than 5 years later she became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
After years of struggle and hard work, Jayalalithaa created history by becoming the first woman leader of the Opposition party. In the year 1991, right after the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, her alliance with the Congress party won her the elections. Her ambitions to fight the so-called man’s world (politics) and rule the state came true. Soon, millions fell in love with her confidence and her leadership.
In the year 1996, Jayalalithaa lost the state elections as her public image was shadowed by corruption allegations. Many cases of corruption were filed against her by the leader of the Opposition party, Karunanidhi. Jayalalithaa was arrested in December 1996 and there began her tryst with the law. After her bail was rejected, she was finally acquitted in the case in the year 2000. However, the High court upheld the order of the lower court.
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.