Tens of thousands of mourners filed past the coffin of the Indian politician Jayalalithaa Jayaram on Tuesday in an emotional farewell to the former movie star who enjoyed almost god-like status in the state of Tamil Nadu.
The 68-year-old Jayalalithaa, described by her party as the Iron Lady of India, died late Monday after suffering a massive cardiac arrest at the weekend following a long period of ill health. Despite being twice jailed over allegations of corruption, the woman known by Tamils simply as Amma, or mother, was a revered figure in her southern fiefdom and one of India's most popular and successful politicians as a populist champion of the poor.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew into the state capital Chennai to pay his own respects, streams of her supporters lined up outside a hall in the centre of the city where her casket was put on display.
While the coffin was wrapped in an Indian flag, many of the mourners were wearing scarves with the red, white and black colours of Jayalalithaa's party. Many of the women mourners could be seen screaming hysterically and weeping although there were no reports of serious unrest amid a large security presence.
Modi was among the first to pay tribute to Jayalalithaa, whose regional party has the third largest number of lawmakers in the national parliament. "I will always cherish the innumerable occasions when I had the opportunity to interact with Jayalalithaa ji. May her soul rest in peace," Modi said on Twitter.
PM @narendramodi paid tributes to Selvi Jayalalithaa in Chennai today. pic.twitter.com/JWPLsSHWCX
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) December 6, 2016
Populist schemes
The southern state had been tense since Sunday after reports that her health had worsened and she had been put on life support. On Monday, scuffles broke out outside the hospital as many of her thousands of supporters there tried to break through the police barricades. When her political mentor and former on-screen love interest MG Ramachandran died in 1987, riots and looting broke out across the state. Ahead of Jayalalithaa's death, police and security presence was beefed up across Tamil Nadu over fears of an emotional reaction from her followers. Several of her supporters resorted to self-harm when she was briefly jailed in 2014 on charges of corruption. Her conviction, later overturned on appeal, sparked mass protests and even some reported suicides. Thousands of directors, actors and producers in the successful Tamil language film industry went on hunger strike to demand her release.My condolences to the people of India on the passing of the late J. Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. — Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) December 6, 2016
Tamil Nadu names 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.
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