Jayalalithaa passes away: Funeral with full state honours and other key developments

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, one of India’s most charismatic political leaders, died in Chennai’s Apollo Hospital on Monday night after a bitter 74-day battle for life, ending an era in Tamil Nadu politics and plunging the state in immense grief. She was 68. Jayalalithaa, a spinster, breathed her last at Apollo just before midnight, over 24 hours after she suffered a cardiac arrest that derailed the halting progress she had been making on the health front. “It is with indescribable grief, we announce the sad demise of our esteemed Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Puratchi Thalaivi Amma at 11.30 p.m.,” the hospital said in a statement. As Jayalalithaa’s death became known, a loud wail rent the air outside the Apollo hospital where thousands had gathered since her cardiac arrest on Sunday evening, hoping against hope that she would survive. Here are the key developments which took place over the past few days in the run up to the fateful night of 5 December: -Just days ago, Jayalalithaa, who was treated at Apollo hospital for acute lung infection, was moved from the critical care unit of the hospital to a private room fitted with state-of-the-art equipment. All clinical attempts were made to save the CM’s life but she passed away at 11.30 pm, the Apollo Hospital press release said. [caption id=“attachment_3141552” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A supporter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Reuters[/caption] -Her body will be kept at the Rajaji Hall for people to pay their respects, said AIADMK, which the actor-turned-politician headed for nearly three decades after the death of her mentor and Chief Minister MG Ramachandran or MGR. -A seven-day mourning has been declared in Tamil Nadu. Schools and colleges will be closed for three days. Her funeral is likely to be on Wednesday, next to her mentor MGR’s memorial on Marina Beach. -After the cardiac arrest, Jayalalithaa had been put on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device, a life support system. -Two hours after the announcement of her death, in a swift political transition, her loyalist O Panneerselvam was sworn in as Chief Minister at a sombre ceremony at the Raj Bhawan along with all the ministers in the erstwhile Jayalalithaa Cabinet. Shortly after 1 am on Tuesday, Panneerselvam took the oath of office and secrecy. Thirty-one ministers were also sworn-in with him. -On Monday morning, all 135 MLAs of the AIADMK were called to the party headquarters where they signed a deal to back Finance minister O Paneerselvam as the next CM. OPS is expected to take oath as the State’s next CM soon. Governor Vidya Sagar Rao had recently allocated all her portfolios to O Panneerselvam when Jayalalithaa was hospitalised. -Panneerselvam had stepped into her shoes twice earlier when she was convicted in corruption cases. As Finance Minister, he was given charge of the portfolios held by Jayalalithaa after her admission to Apollo Hospitals on 22 September. A veteran actor, the self-made Jayalalithaa, who was five times Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, was admitted to the Apollo hospital on September 22 with fever and dehydration, just four months after she led the AIADMK to triumphantly retain power in assembly elections. -Leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and actors from Rajinikanth to Amitabh Bachchan tweeted out paying their last respect to Amma. Defining her as a mass leader, Modi said: “Jayalalithaaji’s connect with citizens, concern for welfare of the poor, the women and marginalised will always be a source of inspiration.” Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who too had counted the AIADMK leader as an ally for years, said Jayalalithaa lived the entire life with the same “indomitable courage with which she battled her last illness”. -A minor scuffle outisde Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence was reported. Some supporters of Jayalalithaa stormed the barricades outside her residence, prompting the police to push them back using lathis. However, the situation was quickly brought under control. Reports further said that police had locked down Chennai and the city has extremely tight security. With inputs from agencies