National leaders throng to pay their last tributes to Jayalalithaa
Several Union Ministers and more than half a dozen Chief Ministers flew to Chennai on Tuesday to pay their homage to Ms Jayalalithaa.
CHENNAI: The entire political leadership of the country seemed to have air-dashed to Chennai to pay their last respects to Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, several Union Ministers and more than half a dozen Chief Ministers flew to Chennai on Tuesday to pay their homage to Ms Jayalalithaa.
And the impression that the departed Chief Minister made in the hearts of minds of the political leadership of the country was at full display when the President refused to cancel his visit even after a snag was reported in the aircraft in which he was flying developed a technical snag and landed back in Delhi. He flew in to the city in the same flight after the minor snag was rectified.
Mr Modi paid rich tributes to Ms Jayalalithaa, with whom he shared an excellent rapport since his days as Gujarat Chief Minister, calling her an “able administrator” and saying that she left a void in the political arena in the country.
He walked into the Rajaji Hall a little after 1.30 PMafter he was held up at the Chennai Airport for nearly 50 minutes and placed a wreath on the body and consoled Sasikala and AIADMK leaders and ministers.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who had earlier visited Ms Jayalalithaa at the Apollo Hospitals in October, also joined millions of mourners by leading a high-powered delegation and attended the funeral on the Marina Beach late Tuesday evening.
That Ms Jayalalithaa made friends beyond political spectrum was evident from the fact that Chief Ministers from the BJP, Congress, Left, AAP and TDP paid their respects in person.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Kerala Chief Minister Pinnarayi Vijayan, Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Narayanasamy (Puducherry) placed a wreath on Ms Jayalalithaa’s body at the Rajaji Hall.
Former Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah and a few other national leaders also attended the funeral and paid their last respects.