J. Jayalalithaa (1948-2016)

Former chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), J Jayalalithaa passed away on 5 December, close to midnight.

She was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai on 22 September and was undergoing treatment there. A statement put out by the hospital (given below) tells that she suffered a massive cardiac arrest on 4 December and could not recover from that.

As this post was being written, O Panneerselvam, who served Jayalalithaa as her Finance Minister has been sworn in as the new chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

Security around Apollo Hospital and Jayalalithaa’s residence has been increased manifold.

Born in 1948, Jayalalithaa was sworn is as Tamil Nadu CM five times; namely in 1991, 2001, 2002, 2011 and recently in 2016.

She followed her mentor MG Ramachandran (MGR) into Tamil politics and after his demise, took over the leadership of the AIADMK, albeit after a contest for the leadership with Janaki Ramachandran, MGR’s wife.

In her demise, the political space in Tamil Nadu is now far less stable. Although, O Panneerselvam has taken over as chief minister, questions on the unity of the AIADMK in the long run, as a party, and hence as government, remain.