Another Puratchi Thalaivi, Unlikely In Tamil Nadu

Back in the sweltering heat of May, the sheer crowds of people that gathered at those massive AIADMK rallies were ample proof that the popularity of one of India's most enigmatic political leaders was intact. Still, at the time, it wasn't an easy election for poll pundits to call, given the revolving-door pattern of Tamil Nadu politics.

 But J Jayalalitha, 68, who stormed back to power as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, and creating history in the process, lost the bigger battle on December 5 at Chennai's Apollo hospital where she had been admitted for the past 75 days.

Her passing, 25 years after she first rode to power in 1991 as the political successor of M G Ramachandran, brings to end an era in Tamil Nadu. One whose narrative was marked by the quest for political domination; the fanatical fervour of followers to whom she was 'Amma'; dramatic face-offs with her arch-rival, the 93-year-old M Karunanidhi; a long-drawn out corruption case, imprisonment and the footprint that her regional outfit left on national politics.

 Unmarried, Jayalalitha has never named a successor though it was possible to hear rumours of such moves within her inner circle in recent months. But gossip and speculation about Jayalalitha's health – particularly after she was released from a Bangalore jail in June 2015 – have been a natural consequence in Tamil Nadu in the absence of any official accounts. Her actual health situation has been kept a closely guarded secret. But it was evident to everybody that she wasn't her old self.

 In May, Jayalalitha appeared at her election rallies sitting at a desk on stage and hardly able to walk, though her speeches were forceful and had plenty of bite. Party leaders have always brushed off concerns about her poor health, saying she was hands-on as usual. Indeed, that style of functioning is something you'd hear about frequently, even in street discussions, because in the AIADMK, typically faces don't matter much.

The AIADMK supremo was known to crack the whip on erring partymen (even someone like O Panneerselvam, the loyalist who stood in for her as CM when she was in jail, hadn't been spared in the past) and shunt people around. And, she would often replace sitting MLAs with fresh faces, some even unknown. She was not seen to be accessible. When she was out of power, she would retreat to her estate in the Nilgiris for months together. But Amma was always seen to be in control, she evoked a sense of awe and none dared to speak out of turn.

 Born in Melukote, a temple town close to Mysore in 1948 and schooled in Bangalore, Jayalalitha entered the world of Tamil cinema in the mid-sixties. She did some 28 films with MGR through the next decade. She read voraciously. Even in the film world, as many recall, she often kept to herself on the sets, reading. In the early eighties, when MGR was Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister, she joined the AIADMK and was made its propaganda secretary. In 1991, after wresting control of the party from MGR's widow Janaki Ramachandran, Jayalalitha won state elections to become Chief Minister, the first of her four terms.

 It was a tumultuous term marked by corruption allegations and the lavish wedding of her foster son (whom she subsequently disowned) V N Sudhakaran, whose aunt Sasikala has been the chief minister's closest associate through her political career. The corruption cases that date back to her first term have dogged Jayalalithaa these past two decades in dramatic fashion – she was jailed twice briefly in connection with these cases – until finally a Bangalore court convicted her in May 2015 and handed down a sentence. 'Amma', however, made yet another comeback, winning her appeal in the Karnataka High Court.

Many would say that Jayalalithaa's third term as chief minister was markedly different from those early years in as much she consolidated her position and her focus on delivering populist schemes gave her the edge to win a second successive term. Indeed, some of her pet schemes, like the 'Amma Unavagam' or state-run canteens, where one can get a meal for as low as Rs 10 have been hits.

Though loyalist Paneerselvam has succeeded Jayalalithaa as Tamil Nadu's chief minister, one thing is for certain- it's unlikely that there will be another 'Puratchi Thalaivi'.