Nation lost an icon: President on Jayalalithaa's death

"Heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of Ms. Jayaram Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu," Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement.

Recognising her as an able administrator, Mukherjee said: "One of India’s most charismatic & popular leaders, Ms. Jayalalithaa was a visionary & able administrator."

"Her life was dedicated to the socio-economic transformation of Tamil Nadu and its people. In her passing away, the nation has lost an icon who was loved and admired by millions," said he.

The 68-year-old leader, who was also a top heroine of Tamil film industry before she joined politics full time, was declared dead by the Hospital which said the end came at 1130 pm.

"Our beloved leader, The Iron Lady of India Puratchi Thalaivi Amma is no more," tweeted All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

Jayalalaithaa's AIADMK supporters had assembled outside the hospital all through the day.

The supporters at one point broke barricades in front of the hospital. Heavy police deployment has been made.
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Jayalalithaa was in Apollo Hospital since Sept 22 and then suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening and was put on an extracorporeal membrane heart assist device, a life support system that aids heart and lung functioning.

Jayalalithaa Jayaraman  was born on 24 February 1948 and was popularly and fondly referred to as Amma and Puratchi Thalaivi by members in her party.

While she last assumed the office of CM in 2015, she previously served as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996, in 2001, from 2002 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2014.

Image: President of India official Twitter page