Jayalalithaa

J Jayalalithaa
Jayalalithaa in 2014
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
In office 23 May 2015 – 5 December 2016
Preceded by	O. Panneerselvam
Succeeded by	O. Panneerselvam
Constituency	Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar
In office 16 May 2011 – 27 September 2014
Preceded by	Karunanidhi
Succeeded by	O. Panneerselvam
Constituency	Srirangam
In office 2 March 2002 – 12 May 2006
Preceded by	O. Panneerselvam
Succeeded by	Karunanidhi
Constituency	Andipatti
In office 14 May 2001 – 21 September 2001
Preceded by	Karunanidhi
Succeeded by	O. Panneerselvam
Constituency	Did not contest
In office 24 June 1991 – 12 May 1996
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	Karunanidhi
Constituency	Bargur
Personal details
Born	Komalavalli (1948-02-24)24 February 1948 Mandya, Mysore State (now Karnataka), India
Died	5 December 2016(2016-12-05) (aged 68) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Political party	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Profession	Actress, politician
Religion	Hinduism

Jayalalithaa Jayaram (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian actress 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), a Dravidian party whose cadre revered her as their Amma (mother), Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader) and Thanga Tharagai (golden maiden). 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.

Jayalalithaa first came into prominence as a leading film actor in the mid-1960s. Though she had entered the profession reluctantly, upon the urging of her mother to support the family, Jayalalithaa worked prolifically. She appeared in 140 films between 1961 and 1980, primarily in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages. Jayalalithaa received praise for her versatility as an actor and for her dancing skills, earning the sobriquet "queen of Tamil cinema". 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 chief minister, Jayalalithaa joined the AIADMK, the party he founded. Her political rise was rapid; within a few years she became AIADMK propaganda secretary and was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's Parliament. After MGR's death in 1987, Jayalalithaa proclaimed herself his political heir and, having fought off the faction headed by Janaki Ramachandran, MGR's widow, emerged as the sole leader of the AIADMK. Following the 1989 election, she became Leader of the Opposition to the DMK-led government headed by Karunanidhi, her bête noire.