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Thousands Mourn Popular Indian Politician, Actress

by VOA News

   Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in southern India Tuesday to
   pay respect to Jayaram Jayalalithaa, an immensely popular politician
   who died Monday at the age of 68.

   Jayalalithaa rose to prominence as an actress who appeared in more than
   150 Tamil-language movies, but since the early 1980s was focused on her
   political work, including multiple terms as the highest elected
   official in Tamil Nadu state.

   "Jayalalithaa ji's connect with the citizens, concern for welfare of
   the poor, the women and marginalized will always be a source of
   inspiration," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

   He joined mourners Tuesday in the city of Chennai where Jayalalithaa's
   body lay in a public hall draped in the Indian flag.

   The government in Tamil Nadu declared seven days of mourning to honor
   the woman known as Amma, or mother.

   In the days before her death, crowds gathered at the hospital in
   Chennai where she had been admitted in September with a fever and
   dehydration. She died after undergoing surgery following a heart attack
   Sunday night.