THE TIMES OF INDIA, CHENNAI

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016 J JAYALALITHAA | A LIFETIME OF ROLES 5

A LEADING Her life was dedicated to the socio-

economic transformation of TN. In
Deeply saddened by
the demise of our CM
She was a powerful voice for the
weaker sections of the society. She
Selvi Jayalalithaa lived
her life with the same
LADY WALKS her passing, the nation has lost an
icon who was loved and admired
Selvi Jayalalithaa. always worked for the benet of indomitable courage with
My deepest condolences to the poor and needy. She has left an which she battled her last
INTO SUNSET by millions the party cadres and well indelible mark in Tamil Nadu politics illness. She had a unique and
PRANAB MUKHERJEE | PRESIDENT wishers in this hour of grief. with her enduring legacy deep empathy with the needs
Her demise has left She was an iconic RAJNATH SINGH | HOME MINISTER of the people.
a huge void. and courageous I share the
Popular, strong, bold, efcient,
Jayalalithaa jis connect leader. This is an She stood as a symbol of dynamism, grief of the
people-friendly, charismatic
with citizens, concern irreparable loss to bravery and was known for her people of
leader, Amma. Always at the
for welfare of the the people of TN sagacity and sharp intellect. She TN
heart of people. I humbly urge
poor will always be a was an embodiment of womens SONIA
the people of TN and AIADMK MK STALIN | DMK
source of inspiration. TREASURER
empowerment and lled with GANDHI
to face this big loss with courage
NARENDRA MODI | indefatigable spirit | CONGRESS
PRIME MINISTER MAMATA BANERJEE | CM OF BENGAL PRESIDENT
VIDYASAGAR RAO | TN GOVERNOR

We lost a great leader

today. Women, farmers,

Friend turns kingmaker

shermen and the
marginalised dreamt
through her eyes. We will
miss Jayalalithaa ji, Amma
to millions.
RAHUL GANDHI | CONGRESS LEADER

WITH JAYA NO MORE, SASIKALAA HOLDS REINS OF 45-YEAR-OLD PARTY, GOVERNMENT Saddened by
the demise
of Tamil Nadu CM
Jaya.Menon@timesgroup.com reaucrats to run the govern- In the last two decades, Jay-
ment and brooked no interfer- alalithaa distanced Sasikalaa J Jayalalithaa ji. I
extend my deepest

S
he has been a
constant in J Jay-
alalithaas life and
the closest that any-
one has ever got to
her. The two became acquaint-
ed when Jayalalithaa, living
alone and not yet a powerful
force in politics, needed a
friend. The two grew close and
Jayalalithaa often called Sasi-
kalaa her sister. Be it to take
care of the AIADMK leaders
personal needs, her Poes Gar-
den household or accompany-
ing her to public events, Sasi-
kalaa Natarajan rarely left
Jayalalithaas side. But, while
her writ ran large, Jay-
alalithaa, 68, kept her on a
tight leash, often drawing the
line when it came to matters
relating to administration.
Sasikalaa, 59, handpicked
party office bearers, most of
whom hailed from her thevar
(OBC) community, and influ-
enced postings of officials to
key government departments.
Yet, her clout and interference
were restricted to just that as
Jayalalithaa depended on bu-
ence from her friend. And, not
once did Jayalalithaa project
her friend as her political heir.
The rustic woman, from a
small town called Mannargudi
in Tiruvarur district who al-
ways remained in her friends
shadow, today is in a position
to call the shots not just in
the AIADMK party but in the
government as well. But, the
self-effacing school dropout
might well take the back seat
again, preferring to pull the
strings and control the party
and the administration from
behind the scenes.
The party grapevine has it
that Sasikalaa may not be averse
to taking over the party reins
where her public interaction
would be limited, and leave the
more high profile job of running
the administration to her trust-
ed aide O Panneerselvam. Crit-
ics, however, argue that Sasika-
laa lacked the mass appeal and
charisma of her leader and,
more important, the acceptabil-
ity within AIADMK and might
merely play the puppeteer.
Sasikalaa has come a long
way since the 1980s when she
ran a video shop and her contro-
versial husband Natarajan, then
a PRO in the governments pub-
licity department, introduced
her to Jayalalithaa.
She moved to Poes Garden
in 1988. Since then, she has re-
OLD BOND:
Sasikalaa has remained
a constant influence on
Jayalalithaas life
mained devoted to Jayalalithaa,
proving herself indispensable to
the AIADMK leader and her
household.
twice once in 1996, blaming
her for the partys debacle in
the assembly election and
again in 2012 when she blamed
her friend for betraying her. It
was a mark of their friendship
that Sasikalaa pleaded with
Jayalalithaa to take her back
saying she would sever all
links with her relatives as she
wished to continue to serve
the chief minister. Jay-
alalithaa revoked her decision
to suspend her associate from
the partys primary member-
ship and welcomed her back.
All through Jayalalithaas
hospitalisation, Sasikalaa re-
mained a quiet force, leaving
the running of the govern-
ment to bureaucrats and sen-
ior partymen, particularly
OPS, who was given charge of
Jayalalithaas portfolios. Her
family members are believed
to have continued to influence
her and her decisions.
Sasikalaa may well be con-
tent to leave the running of the
party to family members while
propping up a loyalist in the
chief ministers chair.
condolences to her
party and followers Not just Tamil Nadu,
in this hour of grief. but India has lost
AMIT SHAH | PRESIDENT
a brave daughter. I
OF BJP
pray to the Almighty
that the Honourable
Chief Ministers soul
nds peace.
RAJINIKANTH | ACTOR
No miracle this time, our beloved
CM has left us and reached Gods
abode. Iron lady of TN who gave
us hope to have prime ministerial
candidate from TN is no more.
R SARATHKUMAR | ACTOR
I am shocked, pained and
grieved by the news of
Jayalalithaas passing.
S RAMADOSS | PMK FOUNDER
Her passing We will
away has caused never ever
indescribable grief. have a

TN administration A darling of Tamil women who I wish to express

my condolences
to her party
leader who
was as brave and
courageous. Leaders
came to a halt and became a mother for the masses cadre and
her family.
like you do not die,
they live on forever..
in the hearts of
files kept piling Meera.Vankipuram@timesgroup.com
VIJAYAKANTH
| DMDK CHIEF millions.
KHUSHBU | POLITICIAN

F
our-time chief minister of Tamil
Jayaraj.Sivan@timesgroup.com In the process, postings, pro- Nadu, J Jayalalithaa, 68, was not just
motions and transfers of offi- a political icon but a role model for

C For 75 days Jaya

hief minister J Jay- cials were stalled. A case in
alalithaas hospitalisa- point is the inordinate delay (11
tion since September 22, months) in promoting 15 IPS
and her death on Monday, has officials, six of them as addi-
pushed the state administration tional directors general of po-
into testing times. lice and nine of them as inspec-
It was at this time that the tors general. Promotions of
government took certain cru- many lower level officials in the
cial decisions like joining the rank of additional superinten-
Ujwal Discom Assurance Yo- dents of police and deputy su-
jana for turning around the perintendents of police are also
state-owned power distribution long overdue.
company, and falling in line Jayalalithaa was expected to
women across the state and country. She
was a fearless leader who withstood adver-
sities to rise to the top in TNs male-domi-
nated politics.
The story of her life is as much about
how she stood on her own and fought single-
handedly to carve a niche for herself, break-
fought and kept
ing glass ceilings along the way, as it is about
her achievements as a political leader.
Since the beginning of her career, Jay-
alalithaa fought her way through to keep
death at bay
her party intact, and to negotiate with the Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com
Centre for various schemes for the state and

with the GST and the National clear the promotions of IPS of-
Food Security Act regime. It ficials the day she was hospital-
even nominated its representa- ised. The files were re-circulat-
tive for the now aborted Cau- ed by the departmental promo-
very Management Board, with tion committee (DPC) after OPS
officials taking the took over the reins.
ailing 68-year-old NO FORWARD But Venkatara-
CMs approval before
making decisions.
MOVEMENT manan, holding the
police portfolio in
Despite a series of the CMs office, sat
attacks on Sangh Parivar lead- on it, said a senior official. Some
ers across the state, which kept officials, who returned to the
police on their toes, there was state cadre after Central deputa-
no major breakdown of law and tion, have not been given post-
order during her stay in the ings.
hospital. But the governance Balakrishnan and Venkata-
took a beating as stand-in chief, ramanan, who stayed put in
finance minister O Panneersel- Apollo Hospitals all through,
vam (OPS) holding additional convened even departmental
charge of chief ministers port- review meetings in the hospital.
folios lacked the drive. Surprisingly, a deputy su-
If OPS was a reluctant cap- perintendent of police, serving
tain, the adviser to the govern- an extended tenure after super-
ment Sheela Balakrishnan annuation like Balakrishnan
waging a battle for its riparian water rights.
MP and DMK leader Kanimozhi says
Jayalalithaa is an inspiration to women to
fight and rise above circumstances.
It must have been very difficult for her.
This is a male-dominated society. She had
the tenacity to withstand that and emerge
as a strong leader, she said.
Writer Vaasanthi, who authored a recent
biography of Jayalalithaa, feels that the
AIADMK chiefs life would have been very
ordinary had she not faced the kind of
challenges she did and the hurdles her
enemies placed in her way.
Because she was determined, she didnt
want to take anything lying down. She
fought her way through, said Vaasanthi.
Jayalalithaa, she added, also realised she
had the charisma to lead. She won the
Orphaned, AIADMK faces
CORE SUPPORT BASE: Women were J Jayalalithaas key constituency
masses over. That became her weapon, her
strength, she said. Jayalalithaas most
powerful constituency was women, a vote-
bank that solidly backed her.
Her leadership abilities, however, went
beyond gender, caste and religion. She was
quite secular, but at times, she did make use
of her gender. She appealed to women
across the state as a wronged woman,
built the Amma cult and became a mother
figure of sorts to people, Vaasanthi said.
Ramu Manivannan, head of the Depart-
ment of politics and public administration
at Madras University said the most signifi-
cant achievement in Jayalalithaas life and
career was to emerge as a leader of a party
and movement which is largely male-dom-
inated. In the Dravidian political culture,
women did not enjoy representation, stat-
ure and power. She was the first one to break
through and emerge from outside the ranks
of the Dravidian party system, he said.
As a woman leader, he added, she ap-
pealed to a large section of women across
the state, with whom she could empathise.
Women admired her, especially those in
rural areas. They appreciated and identified
with the concern she showed them. She was
also perhaps a little more sensitive to wom-
ens issues, he said. Prathap C Reddy had said at the time.
Raj Bhavan
works
O
n September 22, when J Jayalalithaa was taken to
Apollo Hospitals, she was unconscious and on the
verge of a cardiac arrest. But her heart gave in
75 days later, on Sunday. All through her stay in the hospi-
tal, she fought infections and ailments that kept doctors,
followers and her rivals on tenterhooks.
After a week of her admission to the hospital, the
68-year-old CM was moved to the intensive care unit and
put on ventilator when her lungs collapsed following a
bacterial infection. When she was moved out of the ICU
to a private room, there was relief. She slowly worked
towards weaning herself off the ventilator, spending a few
hours each day without life support, antibiotics taking
care of her infection.
The hospital called in an expert from the UK and a
team of doctors from All India Institute of Medical
Sciences, New Delhi. Compared to how she came in, she
made dramatic progress, Apollo Hospitals chairman
O n N ove m b e r 1 9 ,
the hospital issued a press
release stating
Jayalalithaa was being
moved out of the ICU to a

second crisis in 30 years

and first secretary to the CM, and Venkataramanan, got his private room. Outside the
K N Venkataramanan, both fifth extension a week ago.
serving extended tenures in the The government also came
government after their super- in for repeated raps from the
overtime hospital, her supporters
sang, danced and distrib-
uted sweets. But it was a
annuation, put brakes on the high court for either not re- Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com TIMES NEWS NETWORK false dawn, a celebration
administration. Both enjoyed sponding to cases or not imple- too premature.

A R
enormous powers without any menting court orders. The de- fter nearly three decades, the AIADMK
responsibility and accountabil- veloper community suffered on is facing its biggest challenge. The party
ity and in the process, the ad- account of a tug-of-war between had once plunged into turmoil following
ministration choked. Their the political executive and the the death of its founder, M G Ramachandran
loyalty was towards the chief officialdom. (MGR). Now, it faces another crisis. J Jay-
minister and not towards the The AIADMKs reins, mean- alalithaa, 68, who died on Monday, ran the
government. They sat on files while, slackened and it was evi- party single-handedly. She left virtually no suc-
or returned them not knowing dent in the intra-party squab- cessor who can match her calibre. The party
what Jayalalithaas views on bles when the local body polls faces the gigantic task of finding a widely ac-
them would be, said an official. were announced. cepted interim leader, who will hold it together.
The seven-time general secretary, popular
as Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader)
ON A SAD NOTE among her people, took the party to new
heights. Last May, the party registered a his-
toric consecutive win, a feat her mentor
Deeply grieved at the passing of achieved in 1984. And the winning streak may
Jayalalita ji .. a strong woman. have continued in the upcoming local body
AMITABH BACHCHAN | ACTOR polls. With the party supremo dead, AIADMK
workers are rudderless.
Disappointment was writ large on the faces
of cadres, even as ministers and elected repre-
Deeply saddened at the sentatives zipped past the bylanes of Greams
tragic loss of greatest leader Road where Apollo Hospitals is located, and
Jayalalithaama. No words to the party headquarters on Lloyds Road. We
describe the grief of the entire saw our Puratchi Thalaivar in her. She was our
team. SANGITA REDDY | APOLLO HOSPITALS Amma and there was none parallel to her, said
R Valli Raju, a party functionary from Alandur,
With the passing away of J Jayalalithaa Tamil whos been camping near Apollo Hospitals
since Sunday night.
Nadu has lost a towering personality, who was a O Panneerselvam, who was accepted as
brave and brilliant politician stand-in CM on two previous occasions, hardly
NAWAB MD ABDUL ALI | PRINCE OF ARCOT matches his leaders stature. But a likely tran-
sition, probably under OPS, may bring to the
fore the capabilities of the partymen, who were
deprived of a definite role in the past. The im-
mediate test for the ruling party is the upcom-
ing local body polls. Political analyst N Sathy-
amoorthy said that for the party to stay united
and strengthen itself, it has to be through a
presidium of sub-regional leaders. If anyone
tries to outsmart the other, it would only lead
to disintegration, as happened immediately
after MGR, he said.
Prof Ramu Manivannan, head, depart-
ment of politics and public administration,
University of Madras, said that any jockey-
ing for power by newcomers will give
DMK strength and, in the long-run, could
splinter the party.
aj Bhavan witnessed hec-
tic activity all through
Sunday night and Monday
before the death of J Jay-
alalithaa, 68, was announced.
Governor C Vidyasagar Rao,
cutting short a Naval Day func-
tion in Mumbai, rushed to
Chennai on Sunday night and
visited Apollo Hospitals to in-
quire about Jayalalithaas
health. Rao called up Reddys,
the owners of Apollo Hospitals,
several times and his office was
in touch with officials and hos-
pital authorities all through the
night, said sources.
Rao paid another visit to the
hospital on Monday afternoon.
The governor was in touch with
Tamil Nadu chief secretary
P Rama Mohana Rao. He also
kept track of the political devel-
opments in the ruling AIADMK
as its MLAs held multiple meet-
ings on Monday, sources said.
A source said, The governor
consulted constitutional experts
and referred to the Constitution
on Monday. He also remained in
constant touch with the PMO
and a few people in Delhi.
Jayalalithaa continued
to be on ventilator support
for a few hours every day,
besides nutrition and pas-
sive physiotherapy. She was
being trained to speak with
aids as tracheostomy a hole made in her windpipe to
help her breathe made speaking difficult. She was
never completely out of the woods, but she was recovering.
She had diabetes that slowed the progress, said a senior
doctor.
Through the 75 days she was in hospital, she fought
hard, recalled doctors, nurses and paramedical staff. While
some said she could be coaxed to be cooperative, others
recalled how she tried to convince them to send her home
and sometimes threw tantrums to be discharged.
She looked happier when she was moved into a room
because restrictions were slightly relaxed. She smiled at
me when I walked into her room, said one of the nurses.
Although visitors were restricted, Jayalalithaa met a
few senior government officials and ministers besides
her aide Sasikalaa. On Sunday, hours before she suffered
a cardiac arrest, senior party leader C Ponnaiyan said she
was recovering completely.
After the cardiac arrest, doctors connected the aorta
and right atrium to a heart pump, and she was put back
on a ventilator. Almost simultaneously, dialysis was start-
ed and her brain function was monitored.
Party workers, meanwhile, kept a ceaseless vigil. My
leader is a fighter. She has fought bitter enemies. We were
hoping she would fight this too, said C R Saraswathy, one
of her party workers.
But that was not to be.