Janaki Ramachandran

Janaki Ramachandran



Janaki Ramachandran (Tamil: ஜாணகி ராமச்சந்திரன் ‍), popularly known as V.N. Janaki (November 30, 1923[citation needed] – May 19, 1996), was an Indian Tamil actress and politician. She was born to Rajagopal Iyer and Narayani Amma in the town of Vaikom in Kerala State. She had a brother P. Narayanan who was an educationalist. She was a successful actress and starred in more than 25 movies including Velaikari, and Aiyiram Thalaivangiya Aboorva Chintamani. She starred opposite M. G. Ramachandran in many films. She married M. G. Ramachandran.

When M.G.Ramachandran died in 1987, she succeeded him as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the Leader of the AIADMK party (which later split into two factions). Janaki Ramachandran became Chief minister in January 1988 after her husband's death, but the government lasted only 24 days, the shortest in the history of Tamil Nadu. Her ministry won the vote of confidence of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in January 1988 but the Central Government under the late Rajiv Gandhi used Article 356 of the Constitution of India to dismiss her government. Her party was defeated in the next elections held in 1989 and she quit politics after the unification of the two factions of theAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam .

She died of a cardiac arrest on 19 May 1996.