AIADMK unveils Jayalalithaa's statue on her 70th birth anniversary in Chennai

The ruling AIADMK is marking the 70th birth anniversary of late J Jayalalithaa on Saturday.

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu's ruling party AIADMK on Saturday unveiled a full-size statue of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa at its headquarters here, marking the 70th birth anniversary of the late iconic leader.

 According to ANI, the life-size statue of Jayalalithaa was unveiled by Chief Minister E Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu CM E Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam unveiled statue of former TN CM #Jayalalithaa at AIADMK office on her birth anniversary. pic.twitter.com/33NMG8cpbR — ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2018

Jayalalithaa's statue has been installed near the bust of the late leader's mentor MG Ramachandran in the lawns of the party headquarters.

According to reports, a newspaper will also be launched in the memory of the late AIADMK leader.

The unveiling of the statue formally marks the beginning of Jayalalithaa's 70th year birth anniversary celebrations across the state.

The bronze statue of 'Amma', which was sculpted in Nellore, was to be installed last year, however, the plan was shelved after VK Sasikala, the then AIADMK interim general secretary, was jailed in the disproportionate assets (DA) case. 

After unveiling the statue, the two leaders will launch Namadhu Puratchi Thalaivi Amma - the party's new mouthpiece. 

Namadhu MGR, which was launched by J Jayalalithaa to air her views following the death of her mentor MG Ramachandran in the late 1980s, went on to become the official propaganda arm of the AIADMK till her death in 2016. 

Jaya TV, launched in 1999, was also an integral part of Tamil Nadu's late iconic leader's publicity arm.

A bitter power struggle after Jayalaithaa's death led the AIADMK to split into two factions - one led by EPS-OPS and the other led by  TT V Dhinakaran - leaving the party bereft of any mouthpiece.

Sasikala also eventually took control of the two propaganda organisation of her predecessor.

Interestingly, the soon-to-be-launched newspaper will be edited by party spokesperson Marudhu Azhaguraj, who was removed as editor of Namadhu MGR by Sasikala last year. 

The newspaper will hit the stands today.

Unlike Namadhu MGR, Namadhu Puratchi Thalaivi Amma will be published from major cities in the state. 

(With Agency inputs)