Thousands of mourners are flocking to pay their respects to J Jayalalitha, one of India's most influential and colourful politicians. The 68-year-old chief minister of Tamil Nadu state suffered a heart attack on Sunday night and died at 23:30 local time (18:00 GMT) on Monday, Chennai's Apollo Hospital says. A seven-day period of mourning has been declared in Tamil Nadu. He has led tributes to the former film star who served as Tamil Nadu chief minister four times. Jayalalitha is revered by many but seen by her critics as having created a cult of personality over the years.

Source: The Star December 06, 2016 04:54 UTC