President Maithripala Sirisena today expressed condolences on the demise of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and said she was a leader “dearly loved” by her people.

“Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was totally dedicated to the welfare of the people she represented and was dearly loved by her people,” Sirisena said.

In a condolence message, he also said that Jayalalithaa was a towering presence in Indian politics and was elected five times to lead the state government of Tamil Nadu.

“In Jayalalithaa, India loses a leading female politician and a truly pro-poor leader, whom people fondly called ‘Amma’.”

At this time of grief, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tamil Nadu, he said.

Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa also offered his condolences, saying “she captured the hearts of India’s Tamil community”. Rajapaksa, during his presidency, invited Jayalalithaa to visit Sri Lanka to witness the post-war conditions.

Jayalalithaa had a checkered relationship with Sri Lanka. While the Sinhala majority supported her strong anti-LTTE sentiments, they did not favour her for her pro-Tamil nationalist stance.

The Tamil minority in Sri Lanka favoured Jayalalithaa for her ability to bring pressure on New Delhi to nudge Sri Lankan political leadership to grant concessions to Tamils. Jayalalithaa, hospitalised since September 22, suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday and passed away late last night in Chennai.

-Agencies