The passing of Mr. M.G.Rmachandran, the 70 year old Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and founder-leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which has created an extraordinary emotional upheaval among millions of people in the State is a testimony to the powerful standing among the masses, rural and urban, men and women, that he established over several decades. Mr. Ramachandran, or MGR as he was affectionately known, was an unusual phenomenon in Indian politics. Unlike some highly successful film stars who have made, or attempted to make, an entry into the political arena late in the day, Mr. Ramachandran was a unique case of a person whose political career evolved hand-in-hand with a leading role in the world of films (which were linked, in various ways, with the politics he espoused). The nationalist and Dravidian movements provided the background to his role in the cultural sphere. From the early days of their activity in the electoral arena, the leaders of the undivided DMK-above all, the charismatic C.N. Annadurai - were quick to appreciate Mr. Ramachandran's image and special appeal to the masses as a considerable asset to their party. He made his won contribution to the fairly rapid growth of the DMK and its decisive coming to power in 1967. After Chief Minister Annadurai's untimely death in 1969, Mr. Ramachandran found himself sharing the political-organisational limelight and even a stewardship role that he hardly seemed to be seeking earlier. Meanwhile his acting career flourished and reached a new intensity of mass influence. When in 1972, he parted company with the DMK led by Mr. M.Karunanidhi and founded the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (as the AIADMK was first named), it became quite clear that he had walked away with the bulk of the DMK's mass following - although the implications of this took some time to register in power equations. When the AIADMK came to power in June 1977, after the Emergency experience, including a phase of President's Rule in the State, it was to prove an enduring political fact. The key to this ascendancy has not been in any doubt since the founding of the party: it was the personality and popular image of Mr. Ramachandran that proved decisive in political equations over the last decade.