Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa passed away at the Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. She was 68. The government has announced a mourning period of 7 days and three-day holiday for schools and colleges.
- Ms. Jayalalithaa’s health took a turn for the worse when she suffered a cardiac arrest at the Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, where she had been undergoing treatment since September 22 for dehydration and fever. She has been on extracorporeal life support since then.
About Ms. Jayalalithaa:
Jayalalithaa Jayaram was born on 24 February 1948 , was an Indian actor and politician who 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 (AIADMK),
Jayalalithaa first came into prominence as a leading film actor in the mid 1960s. Though she had entered the profession very reluctantly, only upon the urging of her mother to help support the family, Jayalalithaa worked prolifically. She appeared in 140 films from 1961 to 1980, primarily in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film industries.
- Jayalalithaa received praise for her versatility as an actor and for her dancing skills. Among her frequent co-stars was M. G. Ramachandran, or MGR, a Tamil cultural icon who leveraged his immense popularity with the masses into a successful political career.
- In 1982, when MGR was serving his second term as chief minister, Jayalalithaa joined the AIADMK, the party MGR founded.
- In 1991 Jayalalithaa became chief minister, Tamil Nadu’s youngest, for the first time.
