Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian actor who became a politician. She served five terms as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, for over fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. From 1989 she was the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a Dravidian party. She was praised and called by the party members as "Amma"(meaning: mother), "Thanga Tharagai" (meaning: Golden Maiden) and "Puratchi Thalaivi" (the woman revolutionary leader).
Life
Jayalalithaa first became famous as a leading movie actor in the mid-1960s. She appeared in 140 films between 1961 and 1980 in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages. She also earned the name of "Queen of Tamil Cinema."
In 1991 Jayalalithaa became Tamil Nadu's youngest chief minister. Despite a monthly salary of Rs.1, she made a grand marriage for her foster son Sudhakaran, lavishly spending. In the 1996 election, the AIADMK was nearly wiped out . Jayalalithaa herself lost her seat. The new DMK government filed several corruption cases against her, and she spend time in jail. Her fortunes revived in the 1998 general election, as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam became a key component of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee government that her withdrawal of support thrown the BJP government without majority and further triggered to another general election just in a year in 1999.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.[1] On 29 May 2020, her nephew J. Deepak and niece Deepa Jayakumar were declared as her legal heirs by Madras High Court.[2]
Death
She died in 5 December 2016 due to cardiac arrest according to the reports of the Apollo Hospitals. However, there remain questions about her death.
