Jayalalithaa's portrait unveiled in Tamil Nadu Assembly, opposition boycotts event

Chennai: A portrait of former chief minister, late J Jayalalithaa was today unveiled in the Tamil Nadu Assembly by speaker P Dhanapal amid chants hailing her as revolutionary leader “Amma”.

A day after the opposition parties, including the DMK, opposed it, the event saw Chief Minister K Palaniswami, deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and Dhanapal paying tributes to the late leader.

Members of the main opposition DMK and its allies, the Congress and the IUML, boycotted the event. Rebel AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran and an ally of the ruling party, M Thameemun Ansari (Jayananayaka Manithaneya Makkal Katchi), also stayed away.


The portrait of Jayalalithaa, in a standing posture in her favourite green saree, was unveiled while a Tamil song (Thanga Tharagaye Varuga), used extensively when she was the chief minister to welcome her to public functions, was briefly played.

“Peace, prosperity, growth,” a catch-phrase often used by Jayalalithaa to sum up her guiding mantra for the state, was embossed below the portrait.

The portrait, decked up with a huge rose garland, was placed right behind the treasury benches (between divisions I and II). Facing the opposition benches, it is the 11th portrait to adorn the House.

Portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, social reformer Periyar E V Ramasamy, B R Ambedkar, freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Thevar and IUML leader Quaid-e-Milleth Mohammed Ismail adorn the House on one side.

On the other side, portraits of former chief ministers Rajaji, K Kamaraj, C N Annadurai, M G Ramachandran and saint- poet Thiruvalluvar are featured.