Political career of Jayalalithaa

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Main article: Jayalalithaa
In this Indian name, the name Jayaram is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Jayalalithaa.

J. Jayalalithaa
J Jayalalithaa.jpg
Jayalalithaa in August 2015
5th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
In office
23 May 2015 – 5 December 2016
Governor
Preceded byO. Panneerselvam
Succeeded byO. Panneerselvam
ConstituencyRadhakrishnan Nagar
In office
16 May 2011 – 27 September 2014
Governor
Preceded byM. Karunanidhi
Succeeded byO. Panneerselvam
ConstituencySrirangam
In office
2 March 2002 – 12 May 2006
Governor
Preceded byO. Panneerselvam
Succeeded byM. Karunanidhi
ConstituencyAndipatti
In office
14 May 2001 – 21 September 2001
Governor
Preceded byM. Karunanidhi
Succeeded byO. Panneerselvam
ConstituencyDid not contest
In office
24 June 1991 – 12 May 1996
Governor
Preceded byPresident's rule
Succeeded byM. Karunanidhi
ConstituencyBargur
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
3 April 1984 – 28 January 1989
Leader of the House
Preceded bySathyavani Muthu
Succeeded byTha. Kiruttinan
ConstituencyTamil Nadu
Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
In office
29 May 2006 – 14 May 2011
Chief MinisterM. Karunanidhi
Preceded byO. Panneerselvam
Succeeded byVijayakant
ConstituencyAndipatti
In office
9 February 1989 – 30 November 1989
Chief MinisterM. Karunanidhi
Preceded byO. Subramanian
Succeeded byS. R. Eradha
ConstituencyBodinayakkanur
Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
In office
4 July 2015 – 5 December 2016
Chief MinisterHerself
Preceded byP. Vetrivel
Succeeded byT. T. V. Dhinakaran
ConstituencyRadhakrishnan Nagar
In office
23 May 2011 – 27 September 2014
Chief MinisterHerself
Preceded byM. Paranjothi
Succeeded byS. Valarmathi
ConstituencySrirangam
In office
24 February 2002 – 14 May 2011
Chief Minister
Preceded byThanga Tamil Selvan
Succeeded byThanga Tamil Selvan
ConstituencyAndipatti
In office
1 July 1991 – 12 May 1996
Chief MinisterHerself
Preceded byK. R. Rajendran
Succeeded byE. G. Sugavanam
ConstituencyBargur
In office
6 February 1989 – 30 January 1991
Chief MinisterM. Karunanidhi
Preceded byK. S. M. Ramachandran
Succeeded byV. Panneerselvam
ConstituencyBodinayakkanur
General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
In office
9 February 1989 – 5 December 2016
Inaugural HolderM. G. Ramachandran
Preceded byS. Raghavanandam
Succeeded byV. K. Sasikala
Propaganda Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
In office
1983–1984
Party PresidentM. G. Ramachandran
General SecretaryP. U. Shanmugam
Personal details
Born(1948-02-24)24 February 1948
Melukote, Mysore State, Dominion of India
(present day Karnataka, India)
Died5 December 2016(2016-12-05) (aged 68)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Cause of deathCardiac Arrest
Resting placePuratchi Thalaivi Jayalalithaa Ninaividam
NationalityIndian
Political partyAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK Two Leaves.png
RelativesDeepa Jayakumar (niece)
ResidenceVeda Nilayam
81, Poes Garden, Chennai,
Tamil Nadu, India
Alma mater
Profession
  • Film actress
  • writer
  • politician
  • philanthropist
Awards
SignaturePolitical career of Jayalalithaa's signature
Nickname(s)Amma, Puratchi Thalaivi, Thanga Thaaragai, Kalai Selvi

Jayaram Jayalalithaa[lower-alpha 1] (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and film actress who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989, she was the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dravidian party whose cadre revered her as their "Amma" (mother) and "Puratchi Thalaivi" (Revolutionary leader).[3] Her critics in the media and the opposition accused her of fostering a personality cult and of demanding absolute loyalty from AIADMK legislators and ministers, who often publicly prostrated themselves before her.[4]

Political career[edit]

Early political career[edit]

Jayalalithaa denied claims that MGR, who had been chief minister for the state since 1977, was instrumental in introducing her to politics.[4] In June 1982,[5] she joined the AIADMK, which was founded by MGR.[6] Her maiden public speech, "Pennin Perumai" ("The Greatness of a Woman"), was delivered at the AIADMK's political conference in the same year at Cuddalore[7] and was well received. Even the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Rajya Sabha member Khushwant Singh came to witness her speech which was widely acclaimed for its clarity of diction and elegant prose.[8] Her seat number in Rajya Sabha was 185, which was coincidentally the same as that of what C. N. Annadurai had while he was a member in the Rajya Sabha.[9] In 1983, she became propaganda secretary for the party and campaigned extensively for the party candidate R. Amirtharaj in the by-election for the Tiruchendur Assembly constituency.[6]

Filmstar MPs
"This lovely lass has taken her place in the centre of India's political stage and, being a Hindi-speaking Tamilian, is assured of a central role for many years to come."

— Khushwant Singh, Filmstar MPs, Sunday, 27 April 1985[10]

MGR wanted her to be a member of the Rajya Sabha because of her fluency in English.[11] Indira Gandhi lauded Jayalalithaa for the various speeches she made on issues including the one on internal security in Rajya Sabha.[12] Jayalalithaa was elected to that body in 1984 and retained her seat until 1989.[13] Her success in her role as propaganda secretary caused resentment among high-ranking members of the party. By engineering a rift between her and MGR, these members influenced MGR to stop her writing about her personal life in a Tamil magazine. Despite these machinations, she remained admired by the rank and file of the party.[4] She was given key responsibilities, including in the implementation of the landmark noon-meals scheme when M. G. Ramachandran was the chief minister and this taught her lessons in welfare politics. Later when MGR fell ill, she campaigned extensively for the party before the 1984 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election.[14]

  • In 1984, when MGR was incapacitated due to a stroke, Jayalalithaa was said to have attempted to take over the position of chief minister or the party on the pretext that his health would prevent him from the proper execution of his duties.[15] She successfully led the campaign in the 1984 general elections, in which the ADMK allied with the Congress.[13] Following his death in 1987, the AIADMK split into two factions: one supported his widow, Janaki Ramachandran This faction was called AIADMK (JA) and the other favoured Jayalalithaa called AIADMK (J). Jayalalithaa faction was supported by senior leaders like V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, Aranganayagam, KKSSR Ramachandran, Thirunavukarasar. Janaki was selected as the Chief Minister on 7 January 1988 with the support of 96 members; due in part to irregularities by speaker P. H. Pandian, who dismissed six members to ease her victory, she won a motion of confidence in the house. However, Rajiv Gandhi used Article 356 of the Constitution of India to dismiss the Janaki-led government and impose president's rule on the state.[4][16][17]

At the age of 41, Jayalalithaa entered the Assembly successfully contesting the subsequent 1989 elections on the basis of being MGR's political heir.[18]

Leader of the Opposition, 1989[edit]

She was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1989 as a representative of the Bodinayakkanur constituency. This election saw the Jayalalithaa-led faction of the AIADMK win 27 seats and Jayalalithaa became the first woman to be elected Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. On 9 February 1989, the two factions of AIADMK merged and they unanimously accepted Jayalalithaa as the general secretary of the party and the "Two leaves" symbol of the party was restored.[19]

On 25 March 1989, as claimed by the party and a section of the members present in the assembly, amidst heavy violence inside the house among the ruling DMK party members and the opposition, Jayalalithaa was brutally attacked by the ruling DMK members in front of the assembly speaker M. Tamilkudimagan on the behest of then Chief Minister Karunanidhi.[20] Jayalalitha left the Assembly with her torn saree drawing a parallel with the shameful disrobing of Draupadi in the epic Mahabharata.[21][22][23][24][25][26] At the peak of the situation, Jayalalithaa was about to leave the house, she vowed to not enter the house "until as a Chief Minister".[27][28] In spite of some sections of media terming it as a theatrics, it received a lot of media coverage and sympathy from the public.[29][30][31] During the 1989 general elections, the AIADMK allied with the Congress party and was handed a significant victory. The AIADMK, under her leadership, also won the by-elections in Marungapuri, Madurai East and Peranamallur assembly constituencies.[13]

First term as Chief Minister, 1991[edit]

File:Ms. J. Jayalalithaa presenting an award to Shashank - World Tamil Conference, Tanjore, 1993.jpg
Jayalalithaa presenting award in World Tamil Conference,1993

In 1991, following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi days before the elections, her alliance with the Indian National Congress enabled her to ride the wave of sympathy that gave the coalition victory.[32][33] The AIADMK alliance with the Congress won 225 out of the 234 seats contested and won all 39 constituencies in the centre.[13] Re-elected to the assembly, she became the state's youngest chief minister, and the first woman to serve a full term, serving from 24 June 1991 to 12 May 1996.[13][17] In 1992, her government introduced the "Cradle Baby Scheme". At that time the ratio of male to female in some parts of Tamil Nadu was skewed by the practice of female infanticide and the abortion of female foetuses. The government established centres in some areas, these being equipped to receive and place into adoption unwanted female babies. The scheme was extended in 2011.[34] Her party had 226 elected members to the assembly. Her government was the first to introduce police stations operated solely by women. She introduced 30% quota for women in all police jobs and established as many as 57 all-women police stations. There were other all-women establishments like libraries, stores, banks and co-operative elections.[35] She began to be referred as Thanga Gopuram, Thanga Silai ('Golden Statue') by her followers.[36] In 1993, the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes Bill, 1993 was passed by the Assembly (Act 45 of 1994).[37] The Bill was sent to the President Shankar Dayal Sharma for his approval. J Jayalalithaa's AIADMK government led a cross-party committee of Tamil Nadu politicians to Delhi to meet with the Prime Minister Narasimha Rao led Central government and stepped up pressure on the Centre to bring in a Constitutional amendment to include the Tamil Nadu Act in the Ninth Schedule, ensuring that its validity cannot be challenged in any court. By the end of August 1994, the Act became a part of the Ninth Schedule by the presidential accent, confirming "the 69 percent reservation" exclusive for Tamil Nadu.[38] The development fetched her the title of ‘Samooga Neethi Kaatha Veeranganai’ (The leader who upheld Social justice).[39][40][41]

She first invited Ford Motor Company to establish business in Tamil Nadu in 1995. This was followed by numerous companies setting up factories here especially from automobiles sector which included Hyundai Motor, BMW, Daimler, Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Wright and Yamaha. Due to this, Madras (now Chennai) began to be called as the Detroit of India under her first term.[42] Royal Enfield made significant expansion in Tamil Nadu and apart from Ashok Leyland, TAFE and TVS Motors became key players in Tamil Nadu.[43]

Loss of power, 1996[edit]

The Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK lost power in the 1996 elections, when it won 4 of the 168 seats that they contested.[44] Jayalalithaa was herself defeated by the DMK candidate in Bargur constituency. The outcome has been attributed to an anti-incumbency sentiment and several allegations of corruption and malfeasance against her and her ministers.[33][44] The wedding event of her foster son Sudhakaran, who married a granddaughter of the Tamil film actor Shivaji Ganesan, was held on 7 September 1995 at Madras and was viewed on large screens by over 150,000 people. The event holds two Guinness World Records: one is for the most guests at a wedding and the other is for being the largest wedding banquet.[4][45][46] Subsequently, in November 2011, Jayalalithaa told a special court than the entire ₹6 crore (equivalent to ₹29 crore or US$4.0 million in 2019) expenses associated with the wedding were paid by the family of the bride.[47]

Her fortunes revived in the 1998 general election, as the AIADMK became a key component of then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 1998–99 government; her withdrawal of support toppled it and triggered another general election just a year later.

There were several corruption cases filed against her by the ruling DMK government headed by Karunanidhi. Jayalalithaa was arrested on 7 December 1996 and was remanded to 30-day judicial custody in connection with the Colour TV scam, which charged her with receiving kickbacks to the tune of ₹10.13 crore (equivalent to ₹49 crore or US$6.8 million in 2019). The investigation alleged that the amount through the TV dealers were routed in the form of cheques to a relative of Sasikala, who had quoted Jayalalithaa's residence as hers. She earlier filed an anticipatory bail in the trial court, which was rejected on 7 December 1996.[48] She was acquitted in the case on 30 May 2000 by the trial court and the High Court upheld the order of the lower court.[49][50]

Though Sudhakaran was adopted by Jayalalithaa as her foster son in 1995, when she became aware that Sudhakaran began to interfere in her financial affairs and that he took money without intending to repay, she disowned him in 1996 within one year of adoption.[51]

Second term as Chief Minister, 2001[edit]

File:Ms J.Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister Of Tamil Nadu With Fathima Beevi, Governor Of Tamil Nadu.jpg
Jayalalithaa with Fathima Beevi

Jayalalithaa was barred from standing as a candidate in the 2001 elections because she was found guilty of criminal offences, including allegedly obtaining property belonging to a state-operated agency called TANSI. Although she appealed to the Supreme Court of India, having been sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the matter was not resolved at the time of the elections.[52] Despite this, the AIADMK won a majority and she was installed as Chief Minister as a non-elected member of the state assembly on 14 May 2001.[17] She was also convicted in Pleasant Stay hotel case on 3 February 2000 by a trial court to one-year imprisonment. Jayalalithaa was acquitted in both the TANSI and Pleasant Stay Hotel cases on 4 December 2001 and the Supreme Court upheld the order of the High Court on 24 November 2003.[53][54]

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 aide O. Panneerselvam.

Third term as Chief Minister, 2002[edit]

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. Her appointment was legally voided in September 2001 when the Supreme Court ruled that she could not hold it whilst convicted of criminal acts.[52] O. Panneerselvam, a minister in her party, was subsequently installed as the Chief Minister. However, his government was purported to have been puppeted and micro-managed by Jayalalithaa.[17][55]

Subsequently, in March 2002, Jayalalithaa assumed the position of Chief Minister once more, having been acquitted of some charges by the Madras High Court.[56] This cleared the way for her to contest a mid-term poll to the Andipatti constituency, after the sitting MLA for the seat, gave up his membership, which she won by a handsome margin.

Jayalalithaa with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

India's first company of female police commandos was set up in Tamil Nadu in 2003. They underwent the same training as their male counterparts, covering the handling of weapons, detection and disposal of bombs, driving, horseriding, and adventure sports.[57] The government led by her in 2003 banned sale of all lotteries, including online, within the territory of the state, despite the risk of the state losing revenue. She gave orders to a special task force headed by K. Vijaykumar[58] to conduct a secret operation to capture and kill the bandit Veerappan by entering Karnataka.[59] In 2004 she declared eliminating Veerappan as biggest achievement of her government and quoted ""My only brief to them was capture Veerappan dead or alive. After that I never interfered. I left them to work out their own strategies and this paid off."[60] She began to be referred as 'People's CM' (Makallin Mudhalvar) and Iron Lady of India by end of this term.[61] In this term she launched Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) scheme in 2001 to rejuvenate water sources and this improved ground water levels in the parched southern state and this idea was replicated by various states and even by the centre. She also started the Veeranam project to deliver water to the dry metropolis of Chennai.[62] Doctor Manmohan Singh frequently praised Jayalalithaa for her administrative skills, mid-day meal schemes and efforts for gender empowerment.[63]

Her administrative abilities were notable in her handling of events following the tsunami that hit Tamil Nadu on 26 December 2004. Jayalalithaa announced a Rs 153.37 crore relief package, divided into a general package and a separate one for fishermen. She announced that affected families would get Rs 1 lakh as compensation for every member lost, along with one dhoti, one sari, two bedsheets, 60 kg of rice, three litres of kerosene, and Rs 1,000 in cash for groceries and that furthermore, Rs 1,000 was to be given for purchase of utensils, Rs 2,000 so they could put up accommodation. Per family, and there were about one lakh families in all, the package would cost about Rs 5,000. The fishermen also received an extra Rs 65 crore meant to cover gill nets and boats. It was only a matter of hours before Nagapattinam had its power supply back. With the state working on disaster management for over seven years, response time had been reduced significantly; mobile cranes and ambulances were on patrol. The government entrusted district administration with rehabilitation of affected families, and when they were found to be incompetent, she reshuffled or sacked officers immediately. Jayalalithaa even extended help to the Sri Lankan government by instating officers to guide the island nation in the process of rehabilitation. Her administrative style was uncompromising, whether it was banning the sale of gutkha, or mandatory installation of rainwater harvesting systems, but, she got things done on time without any ifs or buts, as was seen with the tsunami relief, ensuring people remembered not the ruthlessness of her tenure, but the help it gave them.[64][65]

But, still her party fared poorly in May 2006 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, 2006 with Her party winning just 61 seats out of total 234 in the state elections in 2006. She won in Andipatti. Though her main opposition, DMK did not win a single party majority (96/234), DMK coalition had 162/234 seats and formed the cabinet until 2011 which she referred to as "Minority DMK government".[66][67]

Fourth term as Chief Minister, 2011[edit]

After another period (2006–11) in the opposition, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the fourth time after the AIADMK swept the 2011 assembly election and stromed back to power. Her government received attention for its extensive social-welfare agenda, which included several subsidised "Amma"-branded goods such as (Amma canteens, Amma bottled water, Amma salt, Amma medical shops, Amma cement and Amma baby care kit).

In April 2011, the AIADMK was part of a 13-party alliance that won the 14th state assembly elections. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the fourth time on 16 May 2011, having been elected unanimously as the leader of the AIADMK party subsequent to those elections.[68]

The then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Jayalalithaa in July 2011

On 19 December 2011, Jayalalithaa expelled her long-time close associate V. K. Sasikala and 13 others from the AIADMK after she became aware that Sasikala and her family were working against her.Most of the party members welcomed her decision.The matter was resolved by 31 March when Sasikala was reinstated as a party member after issuing a written apology.[69] Sasikala in her written apology mentioned that she had no ambitions either in the party or in the government and wanted to serve Jayalalithaa and added that she became aware of misdeeds done by her family members when Jayalalithaa was in power. Only after Sasikala promised to be not in touch with her family members, Jayalalithaa allowed Sassikala back to her house.[70]

In this term, she announced the Pension Scheme for Destitute Transgender by which those above ages of 40 could get a monthly pension of Rs.1,000. Her government ensured members of the transgender community could enrol for education and job.[71] Beginning from 2011, every year her government gave free laptops to students who clear tenth and twelfth standard to impart digital education to rural areas.[72] Her government in 2011 decided to give four goats and a cow to each family below poverty line — mixer and grinders and fans for households, 3 sets of free uniforms, school, bags, notebooks, geometry boxes for all children in government schools, and cycles and laptops for Class 11 and 12 students.[73] In 2011 she launched the marriage assistance scheme wherein the female students received 4 gram gold free for use as Thirumangalyam for their marriage and cash assistance up to Rs.50,000 for undergraduate or diploma holding females.[74] There were rampant power cut issues between 2006 and 2011 while AIADMK was in opposition wherein for 10 to 15 hours there was no supply of electricity. However, after she regained power, between 2011 and 2015, her state government corrected all the discrepancies of previous DMK regime such that the Central Electricity Authority in 2016 said the state is expected to have 11,649 million units of surplus power.[75] Tamil Nadu became among the power surplus states while she was chief minister in this term.[76][77] In this term her government ensured the wrongfully usurped property by land grabbing during 2006 to 2011 in the previous DMK regime, had been retrieved and handed over to rightful owners between 2011 and 2015.[78]

She announced in 2012, the Vision 2023 document which embodied a strategic plan for infrastructure development which included raising the per capita income of residents to $10,000 per annum, matching Human Development Index to that of developed countries by 2023, providing high-quality infrastructure all over the State, making Tamil Nadu the knowledge capital and innovation hub of India. This project had three components — Overall Vision Document, Compilation of Project Profile and Road Map. The work on this continued under her supervision until her death.[79] She inaugurated 'Amma health insurance scheme' in 2012.[80]

In February 2013, Jayalalithaa Government inaugurated the state-run Subsidised food programme called Amma Unavagam (Amma Canteen). Under the scheme, municipal corporations of the state-run canteens serving subsidised food at low prices.[81] which was followed by the plenty of populist schemes such as Amma Kudineer (bottled mineral water),[82] 'Amma' Salt,[83] 'Amma' Medical Shops,[84] and 'Amma' Cement.[85]

In 2015, She also launched 'Amma baby care kit' scheme where every mother who gave birth in the government hospital gets 16 types of products.[86][87]

Disproportionate assets case, 2014[edit]

Jayalalithaa's car Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
See also: Disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa

Three years into her tenure, she was convicted in a disproportionate-assets case, rendering her disqualified to hold office.

On 27 September 2014, Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years in jail and fined ₹100 crore (equivalent to ₹129 crore or US$18 million in 2019) by the Special Court in Bengaluru. She was convicted in an 18-year-old disproportionate assets case that was launched by Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy (now a member of Bharatiya Janata Party) on 20 August 1996 on the basis of an Income Tax Department report on her. Jayalalithaa's close associate Sassikala, her niece Ilavarasi, her nephew and the chief minister's disowned foster son Sudhakaran were also convicted. They were sentenced to four years in jail and fined ₹10 crore (equivalent to ₹13 crore or US$1.8 million in 2019) each. Special Judge John Michael D'Cunha convicted her to owning assets to the tune of ₹66.65 crore (equivalent to ₹293 crore or US$41 million in 2019) (which includes 2,000 acres (810 ha) of land, 30 kilograms (66 lb) of gold and 12,000 saris) disproportionate to her known sources of income during 1991–96 when she was chief minister for the first time. The verdict was delivered by a makeshift court in the Parappana Agrahara prison complex in the presence of Jayalalithaa and the other accused.

She was automatically disqualified from the post of chief minister and the legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu, and thus became the first sitting Indian chief minister to be disqualified.[88] O. Panneerselvam, a minister in her party, succeeded her as the Chief Minister on 29 September 2014.[89] On 17 October 2014, the Supreme Court granted her two months' bail and suspended her sentence.[90]

On 11 May 2015, a special Bench of the Karnataka High Court set aside her conviction on appeal. That court acquitted her and the alleged associates—Sassikala, her niece Ilavarasi, her nephew and Jayalalithaa's disowned foster son Sudhakaran.[91]

On 14 February 2017 (subsequent to her death) the Supreme Court of India over-ruled the Karnataka High Court. Sassikala and the other accused were convicted and sentenced to four years of imprisonment, as well as being fined 10 crores each. The case against Jayalalithaa was abated because she had died and hence can't defend herself.[92]

Fifth term as Chief Minister, 2015[edit]

Jayalalithaa with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The acquittal allowed her once again to hold office and on 23 May 2015, Jayalalithaa was sworn in[93] as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the fifth time.[94] She was subsequently re-elected by the electorate of the Radhakrishnan Nagar of North Chennai in the by-election held on 27 June 2015. In a landslide victory, she polled more than 88 per cent votes of the 74.4 per cent turnout, winning by a margin of over 150,000 votes.[95]

In 2015, she introduced Amma Master Health checkup plan where in people could get various treatments done at a low fee in government hospitals and rolled out Amma Arogya plan wherein at primary health care centre in Tamil Nadu, certain tests can be done by public twice a week. This was done to help the sections of society who cannot afford the fares asked for by private hospital.[96] Later in February 2016 she started the free bus ride scheme for senior citizens above age of 60 wherein person could travel free of cost for 10 times a month.[97] Her government initiated Global Investors Summit in 2015 which saw over Rs 2.43 lakh crore worth of investments being committed to the state. Jayalalithaa's term, all of them together, saw some big-ticket investments in the state and over $20 billion FDI.[98] The department of industrial policy and promotion data disclosed that Tamil Nadu saw foreign direct investment inflows of $7.3 billion from April 2000 to March 2011; however, this went up to $13.94 billion from April 2011 to December 2015, under her government, which at as per conversion rate as of 2016 equals Rs 83,766 crore. Between April 2015 and December 2015, the State attracted $4.3 billion in FDI.[99]

Sixth consecutive term as Chief Minister, 2016[edit]

Jayalalithaa with Vice President Venkaiah Naidu in foundation stone laying ceremony

In the 2016 assembly election, she became the first Tamil Nadu chief minister since MGR in 1984 to be voted back into power. That September, she fell severely ill and, following 75 days of hospitalisation, died on 5 December 2016 due to cardiac arrest.

Jayalalithaa was again elected as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in the May 2016 elections. She retained the Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency with a margin of 39,545 votes over her DMK rival.[100] She became the first leader in Tamil Nadu to serve consecutive terms as Chief Minister since the death of MGR in 1987.[101] In her victory speech, she commented, "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."[102]

Her government within 100 days of resuming power in May 2016, wrote off the outstanding crop loans given by cooperative banks to over 16.94 lakh farmers, gave free power to households to extent of first 100 units and gave free power to handloom weavers to extent of 200 units, gave 750 units of power to power loom weavers, implemented closure of 500 liquor shops and reduction of working hours of liquor outlets emergence of power surplus states. The establishment of first 1,000 MW nuclear power plant at Kudankulam is also regarded as one of her achievements.[103] She increased the freedom fighters monthly pension to Rs 12,000, family pension and increased special pension to Rs 6,000.[104] On 21 September 2016 she inaugurated two Chennai Metro rail lines by way of video conferencing.[105] This was her last public appearance before being admitted to hospital on 22 September 2016.[106]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ In 2000 Jayalalitha appended an additional letter "a" to her name for numerological reasons.[1][2]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Shashi Tharoor (23 December 2001). "'Scrabble' in real life". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 March 2002. Retrieved 23 December 2001.
  2. ↑ Tusha Mittal. "Chasing The Poll Stars". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2016.. May 2009.
  3. ↑ "PURATCHI THALAIVI JAYALALITHAA". indiatimes.com. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named outlook20110321
  5. ↑ Vaasanthi (6 December 2016). "How Jayalalithaa made her political debut".
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Political Career". Government of Tamil Nadu. State Planning Commission. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "MGR: The original 'ladies man'". The Times of India. 13 March 2010. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "How Jayalalithaa made her political debut". Livemint. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
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