Jayalalithaa Dead, Remains Puratchi Thalaivi Till the End

New Delhi/Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who pioneered pro-poor programmes and dominated politics in the state over the past three decades, died on Monday night.

The 68-year-old leader passed away at 11:30 pm, a day after she suffered a massive cardiac arrest, the Apollo Hospitals said.

A couple of hours after Jayalalithaa's death, emotional AIADMK cadre scuffled with police personnel as the ambulance carrying the body reached her Poes Garden residence. Home Ministry officials were in constant touch with officials of the Tamil Nadu government and assessing the situation. Reliving The Life and Times of Puratchi Thalaivi Jayalalithaa

Jayalalithaa was hospitalised on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration. The hospital, which had been issuing bulletins on her health status, had later said she was being treated for infection with respiratory support, among others.

She suffered a cardiac arrest late on Sunday and succumbed a day later on Monday.

Born to a Brahmin couple in Mysore in 1948, Jayalalithaa rose to stardom as a child actor. Her first lead role was in the Kannada film Chinnada Gombe in 1964 at the age of 15.

She entered politics in 1982 and was appointed the AIADMK’s propaganda secretary in 1983. In 1984, MGR made her a Rajya Sabha member and she continued to be a parliamentarian till 1989.

Her big moment in politics, ironically, came with the death of her mentor MGR later in 1984. A power struggle broke out between MGR’s wife Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa.

Publicly humiliated and kicked off MGR’s funeral procession carriage, she began consolidating a support base within the party. The divided AIADMK lost the 1989 elections to the DMK but Jaya’s faction garnered more seats than Janaki’s, leaving the former with sole control of the party.Jayalalithaa the Actor: Films That Mirrored Her Versatility

Her heroine moment came in 1989 when the TN assembly witnessed its darkest hour. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was delivering a speech when an ugly and abusive row broke out between Jayalalithaa and the DMK chief. She started staging a walkout when a DMK minister allegedly tried to disrobe her. The incident united the AIADMK firmly behind Jayalalithaa and she went on to win the 1991 elections, becoming the CM for the first time.

Tamil Nadu continued to swing between the DMK and the AIAMDK in subsequent elections and in 1996 Jayalalithaa was jailed in a corruption case as soon as Karunanidhi came back to power. Her legal battles continued even as her party was handed another mandate by the people in 2001.

She enjoyed a third win as CM in 2011 and became the first returning chief minister of the state in three decades in 2016, two years after another brief stay in jail.From Crush on Cricketer to Hindi Film Career: Unknown Facts About Jaya