CHENNAI: Hundreds of thousands of mourners paid an emotional final farewell on Tuesday to Indian politician Jayalalithaa Jayaram as the former movie star who enjoyed god-like status was buried alongside her on-screen lover.

A day after the 68-year-old died following a massive weekend cardiac arrest, huge crowds lined the streets of Chennai as Jayalalithaa’s coffin was taken to its final resting place in India’s main southern city.

Mourners showered the glass coffin with flowers and clambered onto statues, trees and soft drinks stalls that lined the city’s Marina beach to view the cortege. Television put the number of mourners at around one million.

Despite being twice jailed over allegations of corruption, the woman known simply as Amma, or mother, was a revered figure in her fiefdom of Tamil Nadu state and one of India’s most popular and successful politicians as a populist champion of the poor.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Chennai to pay his respects, streams of her supporters lined up outside a hall in the city centre where her casket was on display, many wearing scarves with the red, white and black colours of her party.

Famed for a vast sari collection that won her comparisons with Imelda Marcos, Jayalalithaa was also one of India’s most polarising politicians, seen by some as an autocratic and secretive leader.

But nothing could dent her popularity in Tamil Nadu, where she was elected chief minister on four occasions in a period when it became one of India’s most prosperous states.

Jayalalithaa first made her name starring in movies alongside M. G. Ramachandran, who later became her political mentor before his death nearly 30 years ago. Although most Hindus are cremated, she requested in her will that she be buried alongside her former co-star in his memorial building.

Hundreds of devotees had kept a round-the-clock vigil outside the private hospital in Chennai — the city formerly known as Madras — since she was first admitted in September suffering from a fever.

On Monday scuffles broke out outside the hospital as many of her thousands of supporters there tried to break through police barricades. Security had been reinforced across Tamil Nadu ahead of Jayalalithaa’s death over fears of an emotional reaction.

Jayalalithaa earned the loyalty of many voters with a series of populist schemes, including “Amma canteens” that provided lunch for just three rupees and vast election-time giveaways. She also enjoyed a reputation for toughness and efficiency in a country renowned for bureaucratic delays.

Several of Jayalalithaa’s supporters resorted to self-harm when she was briefly jailed in 2014 on charges of corruption. Her conviction, later overturned on appeal, sparked mass protests and even some reported suicides.

Jayalalithaa’s death has plunged one of India’s most economically powerful states into a period of political uncertainty. Her trusted cabinet aide, O Panneerselvam, was sworn in as chief minister, but observers are uncertain whether a loyalist who lacks mass support will be able to rule smoothly.

Published in Dawn December 7th, 2016