The All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Wednesday unveiled a new life-size statue of late party leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa outside its headquarters in Chennai. Earlier this year, the party removed a statue it had unveiled in February as part of the leader’s 70th birth anniversary celebrations, following criticism that it did not resemble her.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam unveiled the new statue next to another one of AIADMK leader MG Ramachandran. They praised sculptor Rajkumar Udayar’s craftsmanship, PTI reported.
Party supporters, detractors, as well as social media users had commented on how little the previous statue looked like Jayalalithaa, prompting the party administration to remove it.
Jayalalithaa died in December 2016. The statue is a bronze depiction of the late leader with a rose garland and her index and middle fingers held up to resemble the two leaves of her party’s election symbol.
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