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All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary J Jayalalithaa was on Friday elected the leader of the legislature party by AIADMK members of legislative Assembly. On Saturday afternoon, she will take charge as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for a fifth time. Here are a few things to know about the leader:
- Jayalalithaa Jayaram, general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), was born on Feb 24, 1948 in Mandya district of formerly Mysore state (now Karnataka) in a Tamil-speaking Brahmin family
- She is also referred to as Ammu, Amma (‘Mother’) and Puratchi Thalaivi (Revolutionary Leader)
- Before joining active politics, Jayalalithaa worked as an actress and featured in over 100 Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films. Her mother had also worked as an actress in Tamil cinema
- Jayalalithaa studied at Bishop Cotton Girls’ High School in Bangalore. She later moved to Tamil Nadu and studied at Sacred Heart Matriculation School in Chennai
- She is well versed in Bharata Natyam, Mohini Attam, Kathak and Manipuri dance forms
- Jayalalithaa joined the AIADMK, founded by M G Ramachandran (MGR) in 1982, as secretary
- She was member of the Rajya Sabha from 1984 to 1989.
- Jayalalithaa was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly in 1989 from the Bodinayakkanur Assembly constituency
- A faction of the AIADMK led by her won 27 seats in the 1989 Assembly election and Jayalalithaa became the first woman to be elected Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly
- She became chief minister of Tamil Nadu on June 24, 1991, for the first term and continued until May 12, 1996
- Jayalalithaa took charge of chief ministership for a second term on May 14, 2001, for a brief period until September 21, 2001.
- She became chief minister for a third term on May 2, 2002, and continued till May 12, 2006
- Jayalalithaa became chief minister for a fourth term on May 16, 2011, and stepped down on September 27, 2014, after the Karnataka High Court disqualified her from holding office following her conviction in a disproportionate-asset case
- The Karnataka High Court acquitted Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate-asset case on May 11, 2015
- Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosiah on Friday invited J Jayalalithaa to form a government in the state. Incumbent Chief Minister O Panneerselvam handed over his resignation to the governor, making way for his party chief to take over the administrative reins
