Chennai: India’s top political leadership joined hundreds and thousands of mourners in paying an emotional final farewell to J Jayalalithaa.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, besides several Union ministers and chief ministers flew to Chennai on Tuesday to pay their last respects to the departed leader.
Mr Modi paid rich tributes to Jayalalithaa, with whom he shared an excellent rapport since his days as Gujarat’s chief minister, calling her an “able administrator” and saying that she left a void in India’s political arena. He walked into Rajaji Hall a little after 1.30 pm and placed a wreath on the body and consoled Sasikala and AIADMK leaders and ministers.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who had earlier visited Jayalalithaa at the Apollo Hospitals in October, also joined millions of mourners by leading a delegation and attended the funeral on the Marina Beach late Tuesday evening. That Jayalalithaa made friends across the political spectrum was evident from the fact that chief ministers from various parties paid their respects in person. 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).
Some of the other chief ministers who could not attend the funeral of the five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu in person sent their representatives. Former Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah and a few other national leaders also attended the funeral and paid their last respects.
The impression that the departed chief minister made in the hearts and minds of India’s political leadership was at full display when President Mukherjee refused to cancel his visit even after a snag was reported in his aircraft. He landed back in Delhi and flew to Chennai in the same aircraft after the minor snag was rectified.
The 68-year-old leader, described by her party AIADMK as the Iron Lady of India, died late Monday after suffering a massive cardiac arrest at the weekend following a long period of ill health.
The US and several other countries condoled her death. Leaders from countries that have a significant Tamil population like Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore also expressed grief over the AIADMK leader’s demise.
