Lakhs of grieving men and women today bid a tearful adieu to J Jayalalithaa, the charismatic Chief Minister who held sway over Tamil Nadu politics for more than three decades with a pro-poor image, as the AIADMK supremo was buried here with full state honours. “Now, it’s all a history”. “The people of Tamil Nadu affectionately referred her as Amma”, the CM said. This tweet miffed numerous late Tamil Nadu chief minister’s supporters who lashed out at Kamal on the micro-blogging site. “Her passion, energy and grand vision were so inspiring”, he said. As news of her death hit the news, Tamil Indians poured onto the streets to express their grief leaving officials concerned about possible riots and violence.
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Professor Ramu Manivannan says there are four more years of AIADMK rule left in Tamil Nadu (the party returned to power with a thumping majority in May 2016) and all that the party should be looking at is to not cause a split.
Her body was taken to the burial site in a glass casket as thousands followed the route of the procession, showering the hearse with flowers. Her contribution to the progress and development of Tamil Nadu will be long remembered. Announcing her death shortly after midnight in a bulletin, the Apollo Hospitals referred to the cardiac arrest she suffered on the evening of 4 December ‘even while our intensivist was in her room’.
A crowd had surged toward Apollo Hospital where she lay fighting for her life earlier on Monday on rumors that she had died.
Chief ministers of eight states like Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal and Akhilesh Yadav of Uttar Pradesh and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi attended Jayalalithaa’s funeral.
Legislative assembly speaker V Vaithilingam, public works minister A Namassivayam, leader of opposition and AINRC founder president N Rangasamy and former Rajya Sabha MP and AIADMK leader P Kannan were some of those who paid tributes to the late chief minister at Rajaji Hall in Chennai.
Panneerselvam had stood in for Jayalalithaa in the past, but made it clear he was not replacing her.
Although she was criticized by many who equated her handouts with bribery, she said it was her scheme to wipe out rural poverty.
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Thousands of directors, actors and producers in the successful Tamil language film industry went on hunger strike to demand her release.
