Chennai names successor as thousands mourn 'Amma'

The party of Jayalalithaa Jayaram, a powerful Indian politician who died on Monday, appointed a loyalist to lead her southern state and keep her supporters together as thousands of them grieved in the streets.

Jayalalithaa, the five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu state, ran her AIADMK party with an iron hand and appointed no second line of leadership or successor.

An hour after her party announced her death late on Monday after a cardiac arrest, state Finance Minister OP Panneerselvam was sworn in to lead economically important Tamil Nadu, a base for auto firms Ford Motor Daimler, Hyundai and Nissan and IT firm Cognizant

Panneerselvam had stood in for Jayalalithaa in the past, but made it clear he was not replacing her. He declined to take her place at the head of the cabinet table while she was ill and instead had her picture placed there.

His rise to the top job in Tamil Nadu would help allay fears of a power struggle in the AIADMK, built entirely around the cult of Jayalalithaa.

Tens of thousands of people gathered outside a memorial hall in the state capital, Chennai, where Jayalalithaa's body lay draped in the Indian flag.

Many wailed and beat their chests in grief. The funeral was set for later on Tuesday.

Widely known as "Amma" or "Mother", the film star-turned politician had a cult following and there were fears supporters would react erratically to her death.

A crowd had surged towards Apollo Hospital where she lay fighting for her life earlier on Monday on rumours that she had died.

"The level of reverence she inspired, few other leaders had," said a leader of the Congress party, Shashi Tharoor.

Jayalalithaa had gone into cardiac arrest on Sunday night, the Apollo Hospital said, following her admission with fever and dehydration in September. She was 68.

"She was not only our leader, she was our god," said Paasarai Jeeva, a woman who said she had been camping outside the hospital for a week.

State authorities ordered seven days of mourning, schools were shut and thousands of police deployed to prevent her supporters from creating public disorder or from harming themselves in grief.

In the past, when Jayalalithaa faced political problems such as a jail term for corruption, her loyalists threatened to immolate themselves or lie down in streets for buses to run them over.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was flying to Chennai to mourn her death along with several other cabinet colleagues.

"Jayalalithaa ji's connect with the citizens, concern for welfare of the poor, the women and marginalized will always be a source of inspiration," Modi said.

His ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the Congress, the other national party, have little political presence in Tamil Nadu despite years of efforts to build a base.

Jayalalithaa's AIADMK and bitter rival DMK are the main political groupings, alternating in power.

Source- Reuters

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa dies

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has died, sparking an outpouring of grief in the southern Indian state.

The 68-year-old Jayalalithaa, one of India's most powerful politicians, was admitted to a Chennai hospital on Sept 22 with a fever, dehydration and a respiratory infection.

On Sunday evening she suffered a cardiac arrest and her condition deteriorated.

Doctors of Apollo Hospital, along with specialists from New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, failed to revive her after she was put on life support.

"Every possible clinical attempt was made to sustain her revival. However, despite our best efforts, the chief minister's underlying conditions rendered her unable to recover and she passed away at 11.30pm on Monday (2am today in Malaysia)," according to a hospital statement.

The announcement came within hours of the hospital strongly refuting reports by local television channels that Jayalalithaa had died.

The state's ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party picked Jayalalithaa loyalist O Panneerselvam to succeed her as the chief minister.

As Tamil Nadu mourns the death of its iconic leader, there is high security in the state capital Chennai to control crowds and maintain order.

Indian television channels showed grief-stricken supporters gathering in many locations in Chennai to mourn Jayalalithaa's passing.

She is hailed as "Puratchi Thalaivi" (revolutionary leader) and known as Amma (mother) among her mass followers.

Jayalalithaa dominated Tamil Nadu's politics for three decades and served as the state's chief minister six times.

She was born into a Brahmin family in Mysore in Karnataka, a state bordering Tamil Nadu, and was a hugely popular movie star before formally entering politics in 1982.

Source- Bernama

WHY IS MS.JAYALALITHA"S RETURN TO THE HELM OF AFFAIRS IS GOOD FOR THE STATE ?

“Its an exaggerated Judgement” was every AIADMK cadre’s war cry last September, the DMK felt happy saying “Truth Prevailed”, whereas every common man on a TN street felt “Good or bad this should not have happened at this point in time” (considering the brisk pace at which developments were planned in the state).

 Days passed, September met May, charges were reverted (we don’t hold the authority to analyse and comment on a Top court’s Judgement), jubilation’s began for the AIADMK, Opposition felt dismayed and again the common man hoped for return of normalcy.

Why is J Jayalalitha’s return to the helm of affairs is good for the state ? We strongly believe, the role of a voter in our society is very much equivalent to that of a rag picker, you know you are digging into rags, still your job is to choose the best one suited for your livelihood among what is made available to you.

Right, we can hear you saying why not 49 o, it’s ultimately of no use at the end (refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/49-O#Disqualification_hoax).

By above means in 2011, among those were available before us we chose the AIADMK and Ms.Jayalalitha. Things were more than fine, the government made reality many a populist schemes, it had an vision for 2023, it’s not that the Government fulfilled all it’s poll promises, but positive energy prevailed everywhere that it will fulfill it.

All of a sudden that happened on Sep 27 and dirty politics was there to be seen for everybody in TN for the last 7 months.

The State Government took a paid sabbatical, things went off-course, decisions were denied to be made, and people were given bizarre excuses for the Government’s sluggishness.

237 days passed, the swearing in yesterday brought back the hope of development, hope of normalcy and an end to inactivity. Let’s not waste time in arguing about the past of a person, let’s think what’s the best possibility available at present to achieve quick growth and sustainability.

We need someone who is not afraid to make decisions, who can establish a strong connect with the center, who should have impeccable administrative capabilities (leaving dirty politics aside, everybody does that for a reason). For us, it all sums up to Ms.J.Jayalaitha at the moment.

Let’s have our fingers crossed, its time for TN to shout Peace, Prosperity and Progress!!



Source : http://winationz.com/why-is-ms-jayalalithas-return-to-the-helm-of-affairs-is-good-for-the-state/#

Acquittal makes Jaya invincible, big advantage for AIADMK, body blow to rivals

New Delhi: The AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa's acquittal by the Karnataka High Court in a 19-year-old corruption case has come as a huge relief for Jayalalithaa and her party. It will make her the chief minister of Tamil Nadu once again enabling her to lead the party in the assembly election due in May 2016. The public prosecutor in the case also feels that there is no ground for appeal against the acquittal making Jaya's position formidable in the coming days.

The Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) BV Acharya expressed surprise over the judgement. Speaking to the media after the acquittal, he said "one can't predict court judgements."

This 19-year-old disproportionate assets case (DA) had been the biggest stumbling block for her. As she is off the hook, reenergised Jaya can launch powerful attack on her detractors and political rivals.

It has come as a huge setback for her main rival the DMK and other political parties in Tamil Nadu. The DMK with its wheelchair-bound 93-year-old leader M Karunanidhi leading the party once again may not be able to take on the might of Jaya led AIADMK.