Thousands mourn death of Tamil Nadu ‘Amma’
CARDIAC ARREST: State finance minister sworn in as chief minister
People carrying the casket bearing former Tamil Nadu chief minister Agency pix
THE party of Jayalalithaa Jayaram, a powerful Indian politician who died on Monday, appointed a loyalist to lead her southern state and keep her supporters together as thousands of them grieved in the streets.
Jayalalithaa, the five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu state, ran her AIADMK party with an iron hand and appointed no second line of leadership or successor.
An hour after her party announced her death late on Monday after a cardiac arrest, state Finance Minister O.P. Panneerselvam was sworn in to lead economically important Tamil Nadu, a base for auto firms Ford Motor Daimler, Hyundai and Nissan and IT firm Cognizant.
Panneerselvam had stood in for Jayalalithaa in the past, but made it A file picture showing Monday at 68.
clear he was not replacing her.
He declined to take her place at the head of the cabinet table while she was ill and instead had her picture placed there.
His rise to the top job in Tamil Nadu would help allay fears of a power struggle in AIADMK, built entirely around Jayalalithaa.
Tens of thousands of people gathered outside a memorial hall here where Jayalalithaa’s body lay draped in the Indian flag.
Many wailed and beat their chests
during her in grief.
Later, huge crowds lined the street here as her coffin was taken to its final resting place.
Jayalalithaa 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, Jayalalithaa had requested in her will that she be buried alongside her former co-star in his memorial building.
yesterday.
As her coffin was lowered into the ground inside the mausoleum, thousands of petals were scattered on top.
Widely known as “Amma” or “Mother”, she had a cult following and there were fears supporters would react erratically to her death.
“The level of reverence she inspired, few other leaders had,” said a leader of the Congress party, Shashi Tharoor.
Jayalalithaa had gone into cardiac arrest on Sunday night, Apollo Hospital said, following her admission with fever and dehydration in September. She was 68.
“She was not only our leader, she was our god,” said Paasarai Jeeva, a woman who said she had been camping outside the hospital for a week.
State authorities ordered seven days of mourning, schools were shut and thousands of police deployed to prevent her supporters from creating public disorder or from harming themselves in grief.
In the past, when Jayalalithaa faced political problems, such as a jail term for corruption, her loyalists threatened to immolate themselves or lie down in streets for buses to run them over. Agencies