Jayalalithaa, Jayaram << jah AHL ah LITH ah, JY ar ahm >> (1948-2016), was an Indian actress and politician. She served as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, a state in southeastern India, during four legislative terms. The chief minister heads a council of ministers and oversees the administration of the state government. Jayalalithaa boosted the state’s welfare programs, which gained her many passionate supporters. However, she fought many accusations of corruption throughout her political career.
Jayaram Jayalalithaa was born on Feb. 24, 1948, into an ethnic Tamil family in the village of Melukote in the state of Mysore (now Karnataka) on the west coast of southern India. When she was born, her parents called her Komalavalli, after her grandmother. They gave her the personal name Jayalalitha when she was 1 year old. In 2001, she changed the spelling to Jayalalithaa. Jayaram is her family name.
Jayalalithaa’s father, a lawyer, died when she was 2 years old. Her mother was an actress. As a young woman, Jayalalithaa also became an actress and eventually appeared in more than 140 motion pictures. As her career developed, she grew tired of traditional film roles and was drawn to portraying independent women pushing back against societal standards and expectations concerning women.
Jayalalithaa’s mentor was M. G. Ramachandran, who had left acting for politics and had founded the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party. In 1982, Jayalalithaa followed Ramachandran and joined AIADMK. In 1983, she became the party’s propaganda secretary. In 1984, she was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament, where she served until 1989. Ramachandran died in 1987, causing a leadership dispute within the party. In 1989, Jayalalithaa became the new party leader. That year, she was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and became the first female opposition leader in the state of Tamil Nadu.
In 1991, AIADMK won the legislative elections, and Jayalalithaa became chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Her first term in office ended after AIADMK lost most of its seats in the state’s Legislative Assembly in elections held in 1996. Soon after, Jayalalithaa was charged with corruption and spent 30 days in prison.
In elections held in May 2001, AIADMK regained power in Tamil Nadu. Jayalalithaa was appointed chief minister although a corruption conviction had disqualified her from running for reelection to the Assembly. In September, the courts forced her to step down. But in December, her 2000 conviction was overturned. She was reelected to the Assembly in early 2002 and served as the state’s chief minister until AIADMK lost power in the 2006 election.
Jayalalithaa’s next term as chief minister began following the 2011 election. In 2014, she lost the office again after she was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to four years in prison. The conviction was overturned in 2015, and she soon returned to office. She was elected to her final term in May 2016. She died on Dec. 5, 2016.
