Jayalalithaa, the well-wisher, recall Andhra politicos

Magunta Srinivasula Reddy (Telugu Desam MLC):
Jayalalithaa has been my family’s well wisher for the last 30 years. I and my late elder brother Magunta Subbaramireddy had a close connection with her. Our relations were cordial and more family centric. No politics or business issues cropped up in our meetings.

When my brother was shot dead by Naxals on December 1, 1995, and the cremation took place on December 3, she came to Nellore from Chennai to pay her respects.

She attended wedding functions in our family. A few days before she was admitted to Apollo hospital in September, I met her at her residence. She used to talk to us in Telugu only, though I once told her we know Tamil, but she said it was better to speak in Telugu and she loved the language. She was our guide and mentor.

Madasu Gangadharam (vice president, AP Congress):
When K Karunanidhi became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa felt insecure living in Chennai and shifted to Hyderabad in 1989. She lived in rented accommodation in Radhika Colony in West Maredpally, just opposite my house.

She lived there for one year till she became Chief Minister of TN. She confined herself to her house; hardly anyone in the colony saw her. She bought agriculture land near Medchel and built a small house there where she grew grapes and vegetables.

In Radhika Colony she had no telephone initially. One day she knocked on my door and asked to use my phone and I happily obliged. For her sake we bought a cordless phone and she gave my landline number to her contacts and they used to call us and we used to inform her about the calls.

Before she left for Chennai, she came to my home and offered nee clothes to me and my wife and even invited us to visit her in Chennai.

She remembered me when I was with the then Governor Rosaiah in the Chennai Raj Bhavan and told everybody that she was my neighbour in Hyderabad.

I believe her mother (the actress Sandhya) had a problem evicting the tenant who occupied her flat in Srinagar Colony. It was sorted out during Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy’s regime as Chief Minister.

Renuka Chowdary (Congress Member):
I used to see Jayalalithaa in Delhi as a fellow Rajya Sabha member from 1986. She was two years senior to me in the House. A very beautiful lady, young, energetic and always articulate.

She would come to the Rajya Sabha having done her home work. Except for a few members like me, she didn’t interact freely with others.

We used to share several things. She had a great memory and was very intelligent. She visited my home in Hyderabad a number of times. She also invited my family to her farm house near Medchel. She used to bring cooks from Chennai to prepare various dishes for her guests. She made it a point to prepare one dish in four varieties - like chicken or meat or any vegetable item, but each in four varieties.

But she was sensitive too, like a child. She used to see all those writings against her in the newspapers and express her anguish. I used to tell her don’t take every criticism to heart. Our relations were very cordial always.

I am much sought after: Jayalalithaa
On her last visit to Hyderabad, on January 27, 1995, Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu entered into an agreement with the AP Government over the Telugu Ganga Works and visited the AP Secretariat along with her team of officials.

It was a rare occasion when the yesteryear’s hero and heroine of Tollywood, N T Rama Rao and Jayalalithaa, were Chief Ministers of their states.

During a media interaction, a reporter asked her: ‘Will you now be after any political front at the national level?’ She replied, ‘I am not such a person to be after anybody; rather I am much sought after by others.’