Jayalalithaa: An Enigma Till The End 

There have been few political journeys in modern India which are as remarkable as that of J Jayalalithaa. Born into a poor Brahmin household in what was then the Mysore State, she lived an extraordinary life – first capturing hearts as a charismatic leading lady, then making a successful transition into politics and finally, becoming one of India’s most towering political figures.

When the sudden news of her suffering a cardiac arrest first filtered in through news channels, a part of the reason why most people found the event to be shocking was that it was in complete contradiction to the prevalent narrative around the life of Jayalalithaa. This was a woman who had stared many a dire day in the face and come out victorious. Most of the people of Tamil Nadu had expected the same pattern to stick in her fight with ill health as well. Sadly, this was not the case.

Until the end, Jayalalithaa was an enigma. To put it a tad more poetically –she was an artist wrapped in a politician inside an enigma.

In an era of 24/7 news cycles and increasing tabloidization, she managed to retain mystery and allure which reminded one of personalities from a completely different era.

And there was no political leader in India quite like her.

In a state entrenched in Dravidian politics, she was its most popular leader even while hailing from a Brahmin Iyengar family in Karnataka. She found substantial success as a single woman in two profoundly patriarchal professions – the film industry and electoral politics. And despite being intensely private and an average orator, she still managed to strike an unmistakable chord with the masses.

As a politician, she was not without her faults. Many a time it would look as though she had slipped up due her own misjudgments. But in hindsight, these trip-ups only seem to have been the precursor to another incredible comeback story.

In fact, it was her capability to constantly beat seemingly insurmountable odds which was most astonishing about her.

Cast aside by both friends and party-men post the death of her mentor MG Ramachandran, she had to fight MGR’s widow, Janaki Ramachandran, to gain control of the party. This was a fight she won only to be subject to the unruliness of DMK MLAs during her time in the Tamil Nadu assembly as the Leader of Opposition. While leaving the House, with her saree torn, she is said to have remarked that she would not enter it again until she became the Chief Minister. The words turned out to be prophetic – within a matter of two years, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

In the seesaw of political fortunes that used to be Tamil Nadu politics, she lost power twice in subsequent elections– first in a sea of corruption allegations and second when her political arithmetic failed her. Each of the times, she managed to mount strong electoral comebacks – almost always singlehandedly carrying her party on the strength of her political instincts and personal charisma.

And when in power, as the many participants of her midnight arrest of the DMK leadership would tell you, she was capable of giving back as good as she got.

Even so, Jayalalithaa was far from the stereotypical personality cult driven politician that she is often caricatured as.

As a Chief Minister, she assiduously built a reputation as a master administrator. And despite being one to hold her cards extremely close to her chest politically, she was known to give law enforcement and other state agencies a free hand in enforcing the law.

Her times in power are acknowledged (even by political opponents) to be ones where there has been general law and order in the state – a fact which has contributed to her immense popularity with women. Her handling of natural disasters like the Tsunami of 2004 and the Chennai floods of last year – despite the usual public grumbles – can be counted amongst the best disaster management operations in recent times. The very fact that Chennai went through both events and survived without a major health epidemic was an achievement in itself.

In her later years in power, she also turned into a skillful implementer of several populist schemes. The popular – and deftly branded – Amma canteens, medical shops and drinking water, which powered her to reelection earlier this year, will now form a large part of her political legacy.

Her passing leaves a star sized void in the polity of Tamil Nadu. For over two decades, she was arguably the state’s most popular mass leader – the only one with the capability of transcending the Dravidian underpinnings and caste trappings which engulf the remainder of the state’s polity.

In a state where most of the political narrative is local, she was the one leader with the mass following, the outlook and the profile to become a serious national player. There were signs that Jayalalithaa was easing into that role as well – she had cultivated a mature political relationship with the current Prime Minister, a far cry from her days of run-ins with the Vajpayee government. Her stands on national issues and the manner of her dealings in local politics had come to reflect a maturity sorely lacking in regional satraps today. Suffice to say, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal, she was not.

Ironically, this year had also seen her finest electoral triumph - when she became the first CM since MGR to defeat anti-incumbency and win reelection. In doing so, she decimated almost all smaller parties like the MDMK and DMDK. She had also delivered a body blow to her chief rival, the DMK who seemed to be favorites to win before the polls.

At the time, there was a feeling across the state that it was entering a prolonged period of Jayalalithaa’s electoral dominance and that her best days as a politician lay ahead.

That may not have come to be but the life and times of J Jayalalithaa, Amma to her people, have been remarkable nonetheless.