Mass grief as Indian political star dies

CHENNAI — Hundreds of thousands of mourners paid an emotional final farewell yesterday to Indian politician Jayalalithaa Jayaram as the former movie star who enjoyed god-like status was buried alongside her on-screen lover.

A day after the 68-year-old died following a massive weekend cardiac arrest, huge crowds lined the streets of Chennai as her coffin was taken to its final resting place in India’s main southern city.

Mourners showered the glass coffin with flowers and clambered onto statues, trees and soft-drink stalls that lined the city’s Marina beach to view the cortege. Television put the number of mourners at around one million.

Despite being twice jailed over allegations of corruption, the woman known simply as Amma, or mother, was a revered figure in Tamil Nadu state and one of India’s most popular and successful politicians as a populist champion of the poor.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Chennai to pay his respects, streams of her supporters lined up outside a hall in the city centre where her casket was on display, many wearing scarves with the red, white and black colours of her party.

“It is a very sad day. She was an essential part of the state. She was meant for greatness,” said Ms Christina Paun, a 34-year-old university professor who was among those queueing to pay their respects.

“She had a very difficult life in a male-dominated society but she was always different. She was always great.”

Famed for a vast sari collection that won her comparisons with Imelda Marcos, Jayaram was also one of India’s most polarising politicians, seen by some as an autocratic and secretive leader.

But nothing could dent her popularity in Tamil Nadu, where she was elected chief minister on four occasions in a period when it became one of India’s most prosperous states.

Jayaram first made her name starring in movies alongside M G Ramachandran, who later became her political mentor before his death nearly 30 years ago. Although most Hindus are cremated, she requested in her will that she be buried alongside her former co-star in his memorial building.

The pair were famously close and Ramachandran’s death sparked a fierce battle between Jayaram and his widow to inherit his political mantle.

As her coffin was lowered into the ground inside the mausoleum, thousands of petals were scattered on top.

Hundreds of devotees had kept a round-the-clock vigil outside the private hospital in Chennai — the city formerly known as Madras — since she was first admitted in September suffering from a fever.

When she first fell ill one supporter set himself on fire, while an elderly man suspended himself from a crane with steel hooks pierced through his skin.

“The people are very depressed. We were expecting her to recover even yesterday (Monday),” said a businessman who only wanted to be known as Manohar, who was among the queue of mourners.

The southern state had been tense since Sunday after reports that her health had worsened and she had been put on life support.

On Monday, scuffles broke out outside the hospital as many of her thousands of supporters there tried to break through police barricades.

Security had been reinforced across the state ahead of her death over fears of an emotional reaction.

Jayaram earned the loyalty of many voters with a series of populist schemes, including “Amma canteens” that provided lunch for just three rupees (S$0.06), and vast election-time giveaways.

Several of her supporters resorted to self-harm when she was briefly jailed in 2014 on charges of corruption. Her conviction, later overturned on appeal, sparked mass protests and even some reported suicides.

Jayaram’s passing has plunged one of India’s most economically powerful states into a period of political uncertainty. Her trusted cabinet aide, O Panneerselvam, was sworn in as chief minister, but observers are uncertain whether a loyalist who lacks mass support will be able to rule smoothly. AFP