Thousands mourn beloved leader Jayalalithaa in south India

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 nearly god-like status in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Jayalalithaa’s rise to power has been seen as one of the most inspiring stories of a woman who rose like a phoenix in a state like Tamil Nadu.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arrived around 12.30 pm, paid his respects and exchanged a few words with Sasikala before taking a few steps down to talk to the Cabinet Ministers and MLAs.

Live Streaming: Jayalalithaa death Amma Funeral Ceremony at Marina beach Updates:- The funeral ceremony of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa will be taking place at 4.30 PM today evening at the Dr MGR Memorial site off Marina beach, the state government announced it in an official communication. Jayalalithaa was hospitalized in September for dehydration and fever, an event that instigated weeks rioting and self-immolation by her supporters necessitating the deployment of security personnel.

Jayalalithaa, 68, died at 11.30 on Monday night, after suffering from a major cardiac arrest the day before.

Bollywood and Tamil actors praised the former thespian Jayalalithaa and expressed sorrow over her passing.

Except for her niece Deepa who made several vain attempts to meet her aunt when she was in the hospital, and nephew Deepak, party supporters were all that was left for the leader, who was widely known as “Puratchi Thalaivi” (revolutionary leader). Amma’s last writes were performed by her close aide Sasikala Nataraj. “Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and her valuable contributions to the people, development and progress of Tamil Nadu will not be forgotten”. “She will always be remembered not only as Amma, but a leader that ordinary people could reach out to; a leader who changed and healed by the touch and affection she displayed and a leader who worked tirelessly for the people of Tamil Nadu till the very end”, Congress media in charge Randeep Singh Surjewala told ANI. “Aam Aadmi’s leader. May her soul rest in peace”.

Apart from this, she is a good singer also. She returned to office as chief minister on May 23 and a month later was re-elected in a by-election.

Ansari dubbed her death “an irreparable loss to India”. Siddaramaiah also praised her many public welfare and women-centric schemes. She regained her office previous year after a corruption case against her was overturned by a court. They included: N. Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Pinnarayi Vijayan (Kerala), Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Narayanasamy (Puducherry). “I don’t enjoy politics, I am doing my duty to the party, to the people of TN”. The entire country is shocked with the death of and mourns the death of the departed leader.