File photo of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa
On her second day back in office as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa received a warning from a political rival. The DMK said it plans to appeal in the Supreme Court against her recent acquittal in a corruption case, which paved the way for her fifth stint as head of the Tamil Nadu government.
Ms Jayalalithaa, 67, was sworn in as Chief Minister on Saturday after a nine-month break that was forced upon her when a court in Bengaluru found her guilty of amassing wealth that seemed beyond the reach of her income during her first term in office in the 1990s. Ms Jayalalithaa was arrested for three weeks before getting bail from the Supreme Court. She appealed against her conviction and won her case last week.
The case against her was originally filed in 1996. In 2003, the trial was moved to neighbouring Karntaka to ensure that the politics of Tami Nadu would not influence the proceedings. The Congress government in Karnataka has said it has not yet decided whether it will challenge her acquittal. That must happen, DMK chief M Karunanidhi said in a statement today. For good measure, the DMK also said it will file its own appeal in the Supreme Court.
In the national election last year, the DMK did not win a single seat in Tamil Nadu. Ms Jayalalithaa's party, the AIADMK, won all but 2.
Her cult-like following in Tamil Nadu, her unshakeable grasp over the AIADMK, and the party's stature as the third-largest in the Lok sAbha makes Ms Jayalalithaa, a former movie star, one of the country's most powerful politicians.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, known to have a good understanding with her, phoned Ms Jayalalithaa to congratulate her after she was acquitted.
Tamil Nadu elections are due in less than a year; Ms Jayalalithaa has endeared herself to millions of voters by giving away laptops and food processors among other freebies.