E-Paper
Jayalalithaa third Tamil Nadu CM to die while in power
Jayalalithaa became the third chief minister of Tamil Nadu to die in office. Since the death of Gopinath Bordoloi in Assam in 1950, Jayalaithaa became the 16th chief minister to die in power.
In death, too, J Jayalalithaa touched another common chord with her mentor MG Ramachandran: both chief ministers passed away while in office.
Jayalalithaa also became the third CM from the state to die while in power. Both MGR and his arch rival CN Annadurai, the DMK founder, had died while in office.
After MGR demise, there was a fierce tussle within the AIADMK over the legacy of the leader. MGR’s wife, Janaki Ramachandran became the chief minister, succeeding her husband but eventually Jayalalithaa took control of the party.
Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir have seen the death of the most chief ministers while in power, three.
This year, Jayalalithaa became the second CM who died while holding power. In the first month of the year, J&K chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed died while he was running the first BJP-PDP coalition government of the state.
He died on 7 January and after a long winter, his daughter Mehebooba finally took the charge of the government.
Assam’s legendary politician Gopinath Bordoloi was the first chief minister to die while in power. He passed away on August 5, 1950.
While Beant Singh of Punjab was killed in a terror attack, two chief ministers, YS Rajasekhar Reddy (undivided Andhra Pradesh) and Dorjee Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh) met with tragic ends in helicopter accidents.
