Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa arrives to appear before a Special Court in Bangalore on Saturday. (Press Trust of India)
J Jayalalithaa, the chief of the AIADMK, has become the first chief minister to be forced from office after being convicted of serious criminal charges.
The 66-year-old has been sentenced to jail in Bangalore after a local court found her guilty of corruption during her first term as chief minister of Tamil Nadu from 1991 to 1996.
In a landmark judgement last year, the Supreme Court ruled that any law-maker found guilty of a crime that carries at least a two-year jail sentence will be disqualified immediately after conviction and barred from contesting elections. Before that, criminal law-makers could remain in office if they appealed within three months against their conviction.
Jayalalithaa's AIADMK swept the national election in May, winning all but two seats on the state. The party is the third-largest in Parliament. Tamil Nadu will vote for its next government in two years.
She is expected to select a loyalist to replace her as head of the government. She will also appeal to a higher court against her verdict and sentence of four years.