POLITICAL SCIENCE

TAMIL NADU NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL

( A STATE UNIVERSITY ESTABLISHED BY ACT NO.9 OF 2012 )

Navalur Kuttapattu, Srirangam (TK), Tiruchirapalli 620009, Tamil Nadu

PROJECT ON

"Contribution of Jayalalitha to Tamilnadu as a

political leader

SUBMITTED TO

DR.S.SUBBA RAO.,

(Assistant Professor in Political Science) By

J.V.VIVEKANANDAN

I year B.Com.LL.B (Hons)

(Reg No.BCO150036)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At the outset, I take this opportunity to thank my Professor DR.S.SUBBA RAO from the bottom of

my heart who has been of immense help during moments of anxiety and torpidity while the project

was taking its crucial shape.

Secondly, I convey my deepest regards to the Vice Chancellor Arun Roy and the

administrative staff of TNNLS who held the project in high esteem by providing reliable information

in the form of library infrastructure and database connections in times of need.

Thirdly, the contribution made by my parents and friends by foregoing their precious time is

unforgettable and highly solicited. Their valuable advice and timely supervision paved the way for

the successful completion of this project.

Finally, I thank the Almighty who gave me the courage and stamina to confront all hurdles

during the making of this project. Words arent sufficient to acknowledge the tremendous

contributions of various people involved in this project, as I know Words are Poor Comforters. I

once again wholeheartedly and earnestly thank all the people who were involved directly or indirectly

during this project making which helped me to come out with flying colours.

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DECLARATION

I, J.V.VIVEKANANDAN (Reg No:- BCO150036) do hereby declare that the project entitled,

CONTRIBUTION OF JAYALALITHA TO TAMILNADU AS A POLITICAL LEADER

submitted to Tamil Nadu National law school in partial fulfillment of requirement of award of degree

in undergraduate in law is a record of original work done by me under the supervision and guidance

of Professor DR.S.SUBBA RAO, Department of Political Science , Tamil Nadu National law school

and has not formed basis for award of any degree or diploma or fellowship or any other title to any

other candidate of any university.

J.V.VIVEKANANDAN

1ST YEAR B.Com., LL.B (Hons)

ROLL NO :- BC0150036

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INDEX

1. Introduction 4
2. Early life and education. 5
3. Film career 7
3.1. Child actress in film industry. 7
3.2. Profession as a glooming heroine... 7
4. Political career... 8
4.1. Jayalalitha as a budding politician. 8
4.2. Influential Leader of Opposition 9
4.3. First term as Chief Minister, 1991.. 10
4.4. Loss of power, 1996 11
4.5. Second term as Chief Minister, 2001. 12
4.6. Third term as Chief Minister, 2011 13
4.7. Disproportionate Assets case, 2014 14
4.8. Karnataka HC acquits. 15
4.9. Return as Chief Minister, 2015.. 15
5. Critical analysis of Jayalalithas political career.. 15
6. Honours 18
7. Conclusion 18
8. Bibliography. 18

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1. INTRODUCTION

Jayalalithaa Jayaram, known popularly as Jayalalithaa, Jaya or Amma was born on 24 February

1948. She is a female Indian politician and the incumbent Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, in office

since 2015. Previously she served as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996, in 2001, from 2002 to 2006,

and from 2011 to 2014. She was an actress before her entry into politics and appeared in 140 films

which include Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films. She is the general secretary of All India Anna

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). She is popularly referred to as Puratchi

Thalaivi (Revolutionary Leader) by her followers.

As an actress, she had frequently worked with another actor-turned-

politician, M.G.Ramachandran (MGR). This led to wide speculation, that at a later point of time

Jayalalithaa was introduced to politics by MGR. However, she has denied these claims and stated

that she had entered politics by choice. She was a member of the Rajya Sabha, elected from Tamil

Nadu, from 1984 to 1989. Soon after the death of MGR, Jayalalithaa proclaimed herself as his

political heir. She is the second female chief minister of Tamil Nadu after Janaki Ramachandran.

Jayalalithaa became the first chief minister in India to be disqualified from holding office due to

conviction in a disproportionate assets case on 27 September 2014. On May 11, 2015, the Karnataka

High Court acquitted Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case, and she resumed office as

Chief Minister on May 23. She was subsequently re-elected by the electorate of the Dr.

Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency of North Chennai in a by-election held on 27 June 2015. This

project aims to make a detailed study on the political biography of J.Jayalalitha with a brief

commentary on her pre-political life.

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2. EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Jayalalithaa was born on 24 February 1948, at Melukote, in Pandavapura taluka, then in Mysore

State (now Karnataka) to Jayaram and Vedavalli in a Tamil Iyengar Brahmn family. Her

grandfather was in the service of the Mysore kingdom as a surgeon, and the prefix 'Jaya' ('the

victorious') was added to the names of various family members to reflect their association with
1
Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar of Mysore . Her mother called her Komalavalli.

Jayalalitha's father died when she was two years old. Her mother then moved to Bangalore,

where her parents lived, with Jayalalithaa. Her mother eventually began to work as an actress

in Tamil cinema, based in Chennai, having taken the screen name of Sandhya. While still in

Bangalore, Jayalalithaa attended Bishop Cotton Girls' School. She completed her childhood

education at Sacred Heart Matriculation School (popularly known as Church Park Presentation

Convent or Presentation Church Park Convent) in Chennai 2 . She excelled at school and was

offered a government scholarship to pursue further education. She won Gold State Award for

coming first in 10th standard in not just her school but also in Tamil Nadu. She appears not to

have accepted the admission offered to her at Stella Maris College, Chennai. She is fluent in

several languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam and English.

1
Wikipedia.org
2
Ibid.

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3. FILM CAREER

3.1 Child actress in Film Industry:

Her mother persuaded her to work in films when Jayalalithaa was 15 years old and was still in

school, taking assurances from producers that shooting would take place only during summer

vacations and that she would not miss her classes. She acted as child artiste in Shrishaila

Mahatme (1961) in Kannada. Jayalalithaa acted in an English language film, Epistle, released in

1961. She made her debut as the lead actress in Kannada films while still in school, age 15,

in Chinnada Gombe(1964). Jayalalithaa's debut in Tamil cinema was a role in Vennira

Aadai (1965), directed by C. V. Sridhar3.

In 1969, in Tamil Conference held, she was given the tag of Kaviri Thandha Kalai Selvi. She has

been given on-screen credit as Kalai Selvi in most of her Tamil films since 1967.

3.2 Profession as a Glooming heroine:

In 1972, Jayalalithaa acted opposite to, Sivaji Ganesan as his pair in Pattikada Pattanama, and

she went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil in 1973. It fetched

her, the Filmfare Award for Best Actress too. Her performances in Chandradhoyam, Adimai

Penn, Engerindho Vandhal,Pattikada Pattanama, Suryakanthwere critically acclaimed and

fetched Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1966,1969, 1970,1972 and 1973 respectively. Her

other films with Sivaji Ganesan include Galatta Kalyanam and Deiva Magan; the latter holds the

distinction of being the first Tamil film to be submitted by India for an Academy Award for Best

3
Filmgyan.com

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Foreign Language Film4. She had 118 box office hits out of 125 films, between 1961 to 1980,

and she did the main female lead role in all such films. Jayalalitha made a brief appearance as a

chief minister crusading for prohibition in 1992 Neenga Nalla Irukkanum.

4. POLITICAL CAREER

4.2 Jayalalitha- as a budding politician:

Jayalalithaa claims that Ramachandran, who had been chief minister for the state since 1977, was

instrumental in introducing her to politics. In 1982, she joined the AIADMK, which was founded

by Ramachandran. Her maiden public speech, "Pennin Perumai" ("The Greatness of a Woman"),

was delivered at the AIADMK's political conference in the same year. In 1983, she became

propaganda secretary for the party and was selected as its candidate in the by-election for the

Tiruchendur Assembly constituency.

Ramachandran fondly called as MGR, wanted her to be a member of the Rajya Sabha because of

her fluency in English. Jayalalithaa was nominated and elected to that body in 1984 and retained

her seat until 1989. Her success in her role as propaganda secretary caused resentment among

high-ranking members of the party. By engineering a rift between her and Ramachandran, these

members influenced Ramachandran to stop her writing about her personal life in a Tamil

magazine. Despite these machinations, she remained admired by the rank and file of the party.

In 1984, when Ramachandran was incapacitated due to a stroke, Jayalalithaa was said to have

attempted to take over the position of chief minister or the party on the pretext that his health

4
The Hindu

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would prevent him from the proper execution of his duties. She successfully led the campaign in

the 1984 general elections, in which the ADMK allied with the Congress.

Following MGRs death in 1987, the AIADMK split into two factions: one supported his

widow, Janaki Ramachandran, and the other favoured Jayalalithaa. Janaki was selected as the

Chief Minister on 7 January 1988 with the support of 96 members; due to irregularities in the

Legislature conduct by the speaker P.H. Pandian, who dismissed six members to ease her

victory, she won a motion of confidence in the house. However, Rajiv Gandhi used Article 356

of the Constitution of India to dismiss the Janaki-led government and impose president's rule on

the state.

Jayalalithaa contested the subsequent 1989 elections on the basis of being MGR's political heir

and enjoyed a hilarious victory.

4.2 Influential Leader of Opposition:

She was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1989 as a representative of

the Bodinayakkanur (State Assembly Constituency). This election saw the Jayalalithaa-led

faction of the AIADMK win 27 seats and Jayalalithaa became the first woman to be elected as

the Leader of the Opposition.

In February 1989, the two factions of ADMK merged and they unanimously accepted

Jayalalithaa as their leader and the "Two leaves" symbol of the party was restored. On 25 March

1989, quoted as one of the worst incidents to have happened in the Tamil Nadu Legislative

Assembly, there was heavy violence inside the house among the ruling DMK party members and

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the opposition. Jayalilatha was brutally attacked and visibly molested by the ruling DMK

members in front of the assembly speaker on the behest of Chief Minister Karunanidhi5.

Jayalalitha left the Assembly with her torn saree and this scene created huge sympathy for her

and on the other hand people cursed the DMK leader and its member for meting out such

illtreatment on her. Jayalalithaa drew a parallel with the shameful disrobing of Draupadi in the

epic Mahabharata.

At the peak of the situation, when Jayalalithaa was about to leave the house, which is seen by a

section of the media as "not until I enter the house as a Chief Minister" 6. Though some

sections of media term it as a theatrics launched by Jayalalithaa, it got a lot of media coverage

and sympathy from the public. During the 1989 general elections, the ADMK allied with the

Congress party and had a significant victory. The ADMK, under her leadership, won the by-

elections in Marungapuri, Madurai East and Peranamallur assembly constituencies.

4.3 First term as Chief Minister, 1991:

In 1991, following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi days before the elections, her alliance with

the Indian National Congress enabled her to ride the wave of sympathy that gave the coalition

victory. The ADMK alliance with the Congress won 225 out of the 234 seats contested and won

all 39 constituencies in the centre. Re-elected to the assembly, she became the first female, and

the youngest, chief minister, of Tamil Nadu, to serve a full term, serving from 24 June 1991 to

12 May 1996.

5
Frontline.in
6
Ibid.

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In 1992, her government introduced the "Cradle Baby Scheme". At that time the ratio of male to

female in some parts of Tamil Nadu was skewed by the practice of female infanticide and the

abortion of female foetuses 7 . The government established centres in some areas, these being

equipped to receive and place into adoption unwanted female babies. The scheme was extended

in 2011. Her party had 26 elected members to the assembly.

Her government was the first to introduce police stations operated solely by women. She

introduced 30% quota for women in all police jobs and established as many as 57 all-women

police stations. There were other all-women establishments like libraries, stores, banks and co-

operative elections.

4.4 Loss of power, 1996:

The Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK lost power in the 1996 elections, when it won 4 of the 168 seats

that they contested. Jayalalithaa was herself defeated by the DMK candidate in Bargur

Constituency. The outcome has been attributed to an anti-incumbency sentiment and several

allegations of corruption and malfeasance against her and her ministers.

The wedding event of her foster son Sudhakaran, who married a granddaughter of the Tamil film

actor Shivaji Ganesan, was held on 7 September 1995 at Chennai and was viewed on large

screens by over 150,000 people. The event holds two Guinness World Records: one is for the

most guests at a wedding and the other is for being the largest wedding banquet.

Subsequently, in November 2011, Jayalalithaa told a special court than the entire Rs. 6 Crore

expenses associated with the wedding were paid by the family of the bride. There were several

7
Frontline articles.

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corruption cases filed against her by the ruling DMK government headed by Karunanidhi.

Jayalalitha was arrested on 7 December 1996 and was remanded to 30 day judicial custody in

connection with the Colour TV scam, which charged her with receiving kickbaks to the tune

of 10.13 crore. The investigation alleged that the amount through the TV dealers were routed in

the form of cheques to a relative of Sasikala, who had quoted Jayalalitha's residence as hers. She

earlier filed an anticipatory bail in the trail court, which was rejected on 7 December 1996. She

was acquitted in the case on 30 May 2000 by the trial court and the High Court upheld the order

of the lower court.

4.5 Second term as Chief Minister, 2001:

Jayalalithaa was barred from standing as a candidate in the 2001 elections because she had been

found guilty of criminal offences, including allegedly obtaining property belonging to a state-

operated agency called TANSI. Although she appealed to the Supreme Court, having been

sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the matter had not been resolved at the time of the

elections. Despite this, the AIADMK won a majority and she was installed as Chief Minister as a

non-elected member of the state assembly on 14 May 2001. She was also convicted in Pleasant

Stay hotel case on 3 February 2000 by a trial court to one year imprisonment. Jayalalithaa was

acquitted in both the TANSI and Pleasant Stay Hotel cases on 4 December 2001 and the

Supreme Court upheld the order of the High Court on 24 November 2003.

Her appointment was legally voided in September 2001 when the Supreme Court ruled that she

could not hold it whilst convicted of criminal acts. O. Panneerselvam, a minister in her party,

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was subsequently installed as the Chief Minister8. However, his government was purported to

have been puppeted and micro-managed by Jayalalithaa.

Subsequently, in March 2003, Jayalalithaa assumed the position of Chief Minister once more,

having been acquitted of some charges by the Madras High Court. This cleared the way for her

to contest a mid-term poll to the Andipatti constituency, after the sitting MLA for the seat, gave

up his membership, which she won by a handsome margin.

India's first company of female police commandos was set up in Tamil Nadu in 2003. They

underwent the same training as their male counterparts, covering the handling of weapons,

detection and disposal of bombs, driving, horse riding, and adventure sports.

4.6 Third term as Chief Minister, 2011:

In April 2011 the AIADMK was part of a 13-party alliance that won the 14th state assembly

elections. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the third time on 16

May 2011, having been elected unanimously as the leader of the AIADMK party subsequent to

those elections. On 19 December 2011, Jayalalithaa expelled her long-time close aide Sasikala

Natarajan and 13 others from the AIADMK. Most of the party members welcomed her

decision, and on 2 February 2012, Tehelka magazine claimed that Natarajan and some of her

relatives were conspiring to kill her by poisoning her food over a period of time. The matter was

resolved by 31 March, when Sasikala Natarajan was reinstated as a party member after issuing a

written apology.

8
Wikipedia.org.

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4.7 Disproportionate Assets case, 2014:

On 27 September 2014, Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years in jail and fined Rs 100 crore by

the Special Court in Bangalore. She was convicted in an 18-year-old disproportionate assets case

that was launched by Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy (now member of Bharatiya

Janata Party) on 20 August 1996 on the basis of Income Tax Department report on her.

Jayalalithaa's close aide Sasikala Natarajan, her niece Ilavarasi, her nephew and the chief

minister's disowned foster son Sudhakaran were also convicted9.

They were sentenced to four years in jail and fined Rs 10 crores each. Special Judge John

Michael D'Cunha convicted her to owning assets to the tune of Rs 66.65 crores (which includes

2,000 acres of land, 30 kg of gold and 12,000 saris) disproportionate to her known sources of

income during 1991-96 when she was chief minister for the first time. The verdict was delivered

at a makeshift court in the Parappana Agrahara prison complex in the presence of Jayalalithaa

and the other accused. She has automatically been disqualified from the post of CM and

legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu and is the first Indian chief minister to be disqualified. O.

Panneerselvam, a minister in her party, was succeeded as the Chief Minister on 29 September

2014.

On 17 October 2014, Supreme Court granted two months bail and suspended her sentence in

Disproportionate Assets Case. They have to appeal the petition on or before 18 December 2014.

On May 11, 2015, a special Bench of the Karnataka High Court set aside the trial court order

convicting former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and acquitted of all charges in the

disproportionate assets case.

9
Times of india.com.

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4.8 Karnataka HC acquits:

Justice C.R.Kumaraswamy of the Karnataka HC acquitted Jayalalithaa in disproportionate assets

case on 11 May 2015 stating that the appeal of Ms. Jayalalithaa have been allowed and was

being acquitted of all charges10. The judge also acquitted her associates - Sasikala Natarajan, her

niece Ilavarasi, her nephew and the chief minister's disowned foster son Sudhakaran. Now, her

acquittal by the Karnataka high court means she can assume the chief minister's post. It iss an

important milestone in Jayalalithaa's political career as this verdict decides her career. Former

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has issued a statement saying truth and justice has

prevailed. Thanking God and the people of Tamil Nadu, Ms. Jayalalithaa said that the case was a

conspiracy by DMK to destroy AIADMK.

4.9 Return as Chief Minister, 2015:

On 23 May 2015, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the 5th time

after Karnataka High Court acquitted her from disproportionate case on 11 May 2015. She was

subsequently re-elected by the electorate of the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar (State Assembly

Constituency) of North Chennai in the by-election held on 27 June 2015. In a landslide victory,

she polled more than 88% votes of the 74.4% turnout, winning by a margin of over 1.6 lakh

votes.

5. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF JAYALALITHAS POLITICAL CAREER:

Jayalalithas political influence of Tamilnadu began after the death of MGR. She prominently

came to power after the people were dissatisfied the rule of Janaki. She is known for her firm

attitude and determination and she had impressed the public with her strong governmental

10
Lawyersclubindia.com.

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policies. Though her attitude towards the opposition seems to be more arrogant, her diplomacy in

the recent times rewards her with additional attraction. Below is the table which depicts the

scenario about the elections contested by Jayalalitha from 1989 to 2015.

Oppositi
Vote
Yea Opposition Oppositi on vote
Constituency Result percenta
r Candidate on Party percenta
ge
ge

Muthumanokar
1989 Bodinayakkanur Won 54.51 DMK 27.27[72]
an

Bargur, Kangay
1991 Won 69.3 T. Rajhendher TMK 29.34[49]
am

E. G.
1996 Bargur Lost 43.54 DMK 50.71[49]
Sugavanam

Andipatti,
Nominatio
Krishnagiri,
2001 n
Bhuvanagiri,
rejected[73]
Pudukkottai

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Oppositi
Vote
Yea Opposition Oppositi on vote
Constituency Result percenta
r Candidate on Party percenta
ge
ge

2002 Andipatti Won 58.22 Vaigai Sekar DMK 27.64[61]

2006 Andipatti Won 55.04 Seeman DMK 36.29[74]

2011 Srirangam Won 58.99 N Anand DMK 35.55[75][76]

2015 R.K. Nagar Won 88.43 C Mahendran CPI 5.35[77]

In the recent times, Jayalalitha had successfully opened government-owned hotels where food

are available at low cost-AMMA UNAVAGAM. She has opened its branches almost in all

parts of Tamilnadu and the other states are keenly watching the successful working of the hotels

and to implement it in their own states. She had recently organized for a GLOBAL INVESTORS

MEET in Chennai where a lot of significant foreign companies were invited, to develop the

industrial sector in the state. She had given several concessions to the pregnant ladies and senior

citizens and her role in rehabilitation of Chennai and other coastal areas in Tamilnadu aftermath

of 2015 floods earned her some respect.

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6. HONOURS

In 1972 Jayalalithaa was awarded the Kalaimamani by the Government of Tamil Nadu. She has

received several honorary doctorates and other honours, beginning with an award from

the University of Madras in 1991.

7.CONCLUSION

Jayalalithas contribution to Tamilnadu politics is ever written in history of record particularly

her efforts to eradicate the social evils like female infanticide, animal sacrifice. In the recent

times, her efforts to develop the state of Tamilnadu had not only taken the state but also her

dignity to great heights. However, certain people criticize her ruling as a dictatorship regime,

where the power remains solely in her hands. Nevertheless, she had impressed not only the

people of Tamilnadu but the people and leaders of the other states and had literally became a

role-model for the prospective politicians.

8.BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Wikipedia.org

2. Times of india.com

3. Frontline.in

4. Hindu.in

5.Lawyersclubindia.com

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