The Kerala government declared a public holiday on Tuesday to mourn the demise of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. All government offices and educational institutions will remain closed.
Universities in Kerala have informed that the exams to be conducted on Tuesday will be postponed.
In a condolence note, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written that Jayalalithaa was a rare political genius India ever saw. “Excellent leadership quality and rare governing skills made her a unique personality in Indian politics. She had tried her best to maintain a friendly relation with Kerala. She reached Tamil politics from cinema and within a short span of time she turned into a magical personality in politics. She was raised as a motherly figure in the minds of Tamilians. With a lot many policies that support the poor, she was able to gain the love and belief of the people.”
“There may be no other Chief Minister who has influenced the people’s mind so much. Though politics generally shows a patriarchal system, she showed us that women could also be excellent in this field. She had many hurdles in politics after the death of MGR. But she had overcome everything and through the MGR ruling style she followed, she got a place in the hearts of the people,” the CM wrote.
Pinarayi also said that whether as a member of the Rajya Sabha or as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa always kept the state’s interests ahead of everything else. “She played an inevitable role in achieving the rights so deserved by her state and through that, in reinforcing the federal spirit of democracy. She had been the voice and the heart of the Tamil people.”
The Kerala CM adds that she gave a new face and raised Dravidian politics and that she would be forever regarded as an icon in political history.
The note says that Jayalalithaa would be remembered as a politician, who introduced a lot of public-friendly policies and fought for her state’s rights at the Centre.
“Her demise is a loss not only to Tamil Nadu but to the whole country. I express my deep condolence on her demise,” he said in the note.
The Kerala cabinet also wound up its meeting on Tuesday without conducting any discussions on the previously finalized official agenda. It expressed its condolences at the passing away of the TN CM, and a three-day mourning period was also declared in the state.
“All official programmes conducted by the state government on 08 December will be without any accompanying paraphernalia and will begin with official condolences offered on Jayalalithaa’s demise,” said a press statement released to the media by the Chief Minister’s office.
Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, one of India's most charismatic political leaders, died in Chennai on Monday night after a bitter 74-day battle for life, ending an era in Tamil Nadu politics and plunging the state in deep grief. She was 68.
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