Bengaluru, Dec 6 (IANS) Condoling the death of his Tamil Nadu counterpart J. Jayalalithaa, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday termed her as one of the tallest personalities in politics as well as films.
"Jayalalithaa became one of the tallest personalities not only in Tamil cinema, but also in Tamil Nadu politics. After acting in about 140 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi, she won the hearts and minds of the people as AIADMK supremo and four-time chief minister," said Siddaramaiah in a message.
The 68-year-old AIADMK chief passed away on Monday night at a private hospital in Chennai after battling illness for over 70 days.
Recalling that Jayalalithaa was the youngest Chief Minister (43) when she assumed office for the first time in 1991, he said she had implemented a scheme to eliminate female infanticide and save the girl child in her state.
"She also implemented popular welfare schemes like all-women police stations, women libraries, all-women banks during her tenures and became famous for her series of Amma Canteen, Amma Water, Amma Salt, Amma Medical, Amma Fan, Amma Seeds, Amma Mixi and Amma Grinder," he said.
Siddaramaiah also flew to Chennai in a charted aircraft to pay his last respects. Besides former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, state cabinet ministers T.B. Jayachandra and D.K. Shivakumar also visited Chennai to pay homage to her.
