V. N. Janaki
Indian first female chief minister of Tamil Nadu (1923–1996)
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Early and personal life
Vaikom Narayani Janaki was born in Vaikom in Travancore State on 30 November 1923. Her father, Rajagopal Iyer, was a Tamil Brahmin from Palakkad, and was the elder brother of the musician and composer Papanasam Sivan. Her mother was Narayani Amma.
In 1939, aged 17, Janaki married Ganapathy Bhat (1915–1972), and they had a son, Surendran. She later divorced Bhat in 1951. Following the death of M. G. Ramachandran's second wife Sadananthavathi in 1962, she moved in with him. They legally married in 1963, and did not have children.
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Film career
Janaki began her film career in 1939 with a minor role in Manmatha Vijayam, and later did minor roles in other films. She began acting in lead roles with Sakata Yogam in 1946 and Chandralekha in 1948 brought her popularity. She was paired with Ramachandran in Raja Mukthi and Mohini in the same year. Her other notable films included, Velaikaari (1949) and Marudhanaattu Ilavarasi (1950). Her last film was Naam in 1953.
Political career
Ramachandran was the founder of the political party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 1977. Janaki was not politically active during the period and made only a few public appearances during the party's early days. However, when Ramachandran suffered a stroke in 1984, she served as a liaison between him and the members of his party. After Ramachandran's death in 1987, Janaki was asked by his party members to take his place.
Janaki became the chief minister on 7 January 1988, and was the first woman to serve in the post. Then Tamil Nadu governor Sundar Lal Khurana gave her three weeks to prove her majority in the legislative assembly. During her tenure, the Janaki-led government announced the institution of two awards in the name of Ramachandran, carrying cash prizes of ₹25,000 each for original works on science and technology in Tamil language. The government launched a free footwear distribution scheme, estimated to cost ₹230 million (equivalent to ₹3.1 billion or US$33 million in 2026), aimed at benefiting around nine million school children and four million women.
Janaki faced a vote of confidence in the Tamil Nadu assembly. Her party, the AIADMK, had split into multiple factions. Initially, the speaker declared that Janaki had won the confidence vote, after he disqualified a set of members, who had split from the AIADMK. However, the vote was conducted in chaos, with the members of the ruling and opposition parties clashing inside the assembly, and the police being called into the house. The union government under Rajiv Gandhi used the Article 356 of the Constitution of India to dismiss her government later. Hence, her government lasted only 24 days.
The Election Commission of India later froze the "two Leaves" symbol of the AIADMK on 17 December 1988, after the party was split into two factions– AIADMK (JA) under Janaki and AIADMK (J) under Jayalalithaa. Her faction contested on the "double pigeon" symbol in the 1989 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, and won only two seats. She quit politics after the two factions of the party were unified later.
Later life and death
Janaki donated the property in V.P. Raman Salai to the AIADMK, which subsequently became the headquarters of the party in 1986. She was the founder chairman of The Satya Educational & Charitable Society, and the Janaki Ramachandran Educational & Charitable Trust, which manage several educational institutions including Dr.MGR Janaki College of Arts and Science for Women and Dr.MGR Home and Higher Secondary School for the Speech and Hearing Impaired.
Janaki died of cardiac arrest at afternoon on 19 May 1996 in Chennai, and was buried beside her residence at MGR Thottam in Raamapuram.
On 19 May, shortly after 5:00 p.m. IST, AIADMK General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa accompanied by senior leaders V. R. Nedunchezhiyan and S. D. Somasundaram, paid floral tributes to the mortal remains of V. N. Janaki Ramachandran at her residence in Ramapuram. The state government declared a one-day holiday on 20 May as a mark of respect. Then newly sworn M. Karunanidhi and his cabinet paid their respects that evening at the Ramapuram residence of V. N. Janaki Ramachandran, where her last rites were held on the afternoon of 20 May. On 24 May, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly adopted a condolence motion for Janaki Ramachandran and Rani Annadurai (who died on 6 May), widow of former Chief Minister C. N. Annadurai, moved by Speaker P. T. R. Palanivel Rajan. The House was then adjourned for the day, and Karunanidhi ordered the installation of Janaki's portrait among the former CMs at the Secretariat.