(Left) Jayalalithaa (C) with her father Jayaraman, mother Vedavalli and brother Jayakumar. File photosChennai: Jayalalithaa, who passed away here on Monday, was born on February 24, 1948, into a Tamil Iyengar family, which migrated from Tamil Nadu to Mysore decades ago. After her father Jayaraman's death when she was just two, Jayalalithaa was brought up by her mother Vedavalli.
She was fondly christened Komalavalli by her parents, but later at the time of school admission, her name was changed to Jayalalithaa.
At a very young age, she showed great enthusiasm and talent for the arts. She had a natural talent in dance and classical music. Heeding her mother's advice, Jaya ventured into tinsel town at the age of 15. In the beginning, she was forced to do small roles in many films. She got her first major break of her life in 1964 with the Kannada movie Chinnada Gombe.
C.V. Sreedhar-directed Vennira Aadai, which was released in 1965, was her first Tamil movie as heroine. But the turning point in her career and life came when she landed a role opposite matinee idol M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) in the movie Aayirathil Oruvan in the same year.
Thereafter, the MGR-Jayalalithaa pair acted in 28 films between 1965 and 1973, and each of them were box-office hits.
In 1980, MGR offered her a membership in AIADMK, the party founded by him following a rift with his friend-turned-foe Karunanidhi. It marked the end of her film career and the beginning of a whirlwind political career.
Jayalalithaa made calculated moves up the political ladder, and within about a decade after she was introduced to politics by MGR, she took over the position of AIADMK general secretary and became Tamil Nadu's chief minister.
In 1983, Jayalalithaa was elected to the assembly after winning the by-election to the Tiruchendur constituency. She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the next year.
After MGR's death, she tightened her grip on the party apparatus by overcoming stiff opposition from rival factions in the party.
AIADMK swept the assembly polls in 1991, and Jayalalithaa became the youngest ever and the second female chief minister of Tamil Nadu. However, when she completed the term in 1996, there were several allegations of corruption and malfeasance against her and her ministers. Subsequently, she was arrested and sent to jail after being caught in a corruption case, but was acquitted by the court later.
But she was not ready to give up. Known for her resilience and determination, she fought valiantly and once again became a force to reckon with in Tamil Nadu politics. She went on to become chief minister in 2001, 2011 and 2016.
An AIADMK supporter flashes a victory sign and carries an image of J Jayalalithaa as supporters set off fireworks during celebrations of her successful bail application, in Chennai on October 17, 2014. AFP/File photoIn 2014, Jayalalithaa and four of her close aides were convicted in a disproportionate assets case and were sentenced to jail by a court in Bengaluru. After a year, the Karnataka High Court set aside the trial court order and acquitted them of all charges.
In the assembly elections held in 2016, her party registered a landslide win and returned to power. Jayalalithaa was again elected as chief minister after she retained the RK Nagar constituency with a margin of 39,545 votes. Out of the eight elections she contested, Jayalalithaa lost only once; in 2006 from the Bargur constituency.
Though Jayalalithaa's autocratic style of functioning had invited criticisms from different quarters, various popular welfare scheme she launched under the brand name 'Amma' were huge hits among masses.
The fact that many of the innovative methods introduced by her in election campaigning and governance were copied at the national level bears testimony to Jayalalithaa's political acumen and administrative skill.
