Actors - J. Jayalalithaa

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	Actors - J. Jayalalithaa

Jayalalithaa Jayaram or J. Jayalalithaa (born February 24, 1948, Mysore) is the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, India (since March 2, 2002). She is also the general secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (a regional party in the state). Currently in her second term, she is popularly called Amma (mother) by her followers.

She was born in Mysore to actress Sandhya as Komalavalli. Prior to her venture into politics, she had a successful career in the Tamil film industry as an actress. Chinnada Gombe, her first film (in Kannada) was a major hit. Her first Telugu film Manushulu Mamathalu made her a superstar. In 1972, she was honored by the Tamil Nadu government with the award Kalaimamani.

Entry into politics

In 1981, she joined the AIADMK and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1984 marking her entry into the Parliament of India. Her association with politics grew from her relationship with M. G. Ramachandran, movie star and then Chief Minister. On M.G R's death, she was alienated by a faction of the party who chose to support M.G R's wife Janaki Ramachandran. Drawing on her massive popularity and her image as the "wronged woman", in 1989, she was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly—-incidentally, she became the first woman to be elected Leader of the Opposition. She accused that the then ruling party, the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - Dravidian People's Party), tried to assault her in the assembly, and there, she reportedly took an oath to enter the assembly house only as chief minister. In 1991, following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, just days before the elections, her alliance with Indian National Congress paid off as a sympathy wave propelled the coalition to a massive victory. She was re-elected to the legislative assembly and became the first elected woman chief minister of Tamil Nadu (Janaki Ramachandran was the first woman caretaker CM) serving the full tenure (June 24, 1991 - May 12, 1996). However, due to an anti-incumbency wave, and several allegations of corruption and malfeasance against her and her ministers, she lost power to the DMK in 1996, in a landslide defeat. All the ministers in her erstwhile cabinet, including her were defeated in the elections and six of them even lost their deposits, indicating that they did not even secure the minimum numbeer of votes expected of them. She returned to power with a huge majority in the 2001 elections, having mustered a bigger coalition and defying many pre-poll predictions.

During the years out of power, she had to face a number of court cases related to her first term rule. She faced all of them and as a result of the court cases, she could not contest the 2001 elections and became the Chief Minister as a non-elected member of assembly. However she was forced to step down when the Supreme Court ruled that persons facing criminal cases can not become the chief minister. She returned as the Chief Minister again after clearing her name in the specific case. She still faces a couple of cases in the courts in neighbouring Karnataka state. She is former keep of shobanbabu

Influence

In the era of coalition politics she wields influence with the central governments and has been a part of both the ruling and opposition alliance at some point of time. She was instrumental in toppling the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998, though it seemed to backfire on her as she lost the following parliamentary elections. Her political fortunes seem to have taken a downswing in the 2004 elections where her party was virtually wiped out in elections to the national parliament.

Allegations of oppressive Style of Governance

Her detractors consider that her style of Governance as oppressive and point out to the following

1. She has a record of dismissing nearly 1,70,000 Government Employees in one stroke for going on strike protesting against her cutting off some of their pension benefits . The employees made appeals to the High Court and later to the Supreme Court of India, which court upheld the legal right of the Government to dismiss, but ordered the constitution of a three member Committee of High Court Judges to consider the appeals of the employees on individual basis. After a detailed and prolonged hearings lasting over six months the Judges’ Committee ordered reinstatement of all but a little less than 4,000 employees, and minor punishment to about 6,000 employees. Later, after her party suffered defeat in the National elections in May 2004, she reversed the decisions and reinstated all the dismissed employees and withdrew the penalties imposed, despite the Committee of Judges’ findings.

2. Some people express doubts over the genuineness of the cases filed during her Chief Ministership accusing the possession of Narcotics filed against her detractors like, Muthu (MGR’s car driver), VN.Sudhakaran (her estranged foster-son), P.K.Salahuddin and P.K.Moinuddin ( both reportedly friends of VN.Sudhakaran), Sherija Banu (reportedly a friend of the husband of Sasikala) and Kumar (nephew of Justice A.R.Lakshmanan)

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