AIADMK unveils new statue of Jayalalithaa to replace the one that didn’t resemble her

A new life-size statue of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa was unveiled Wednesday at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai. Jayalalithaa, a five-time chief minister of the state, died in December 2016. Her statue is placed next to the statue of her mentor and former chief minister MG Ramachandran.

In February this year, the ruling AIADMK had unveiled a bronze statue of their matriarch on the occasion of her 70th birth anniversary, but it drew flak from supporters and social media users who pointed out that it didn’t resemble Jayalalithaa. It was later removed. Read this story in Tamil

Left: Old statue of Jayalalithaa that had to be removed, Right: Statue unveiled today

After the statue was unveiled, it was criticised for its similarities to former interim AIADMK general secretary and sidelined leader Sasikala Nataraj.