Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah among other leaders were all praise for late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on her 71st birth anniversary on Sunday.

In a tweet, Modi said, "Tributes to Jayalalithaa ji on her birth anniversary. Her contribution towards the development of Tamil Nadu will be remembered for generations. A fine administrator and compassionate leader, her welfare measures benefitted countless poor people." Amit Shah said, "I offer my tributes to Jayalalithaa ji on her birth anniversary. Her passion and commitment to serve the poor and marginalized shaped millions of lives in Tamil Nadu. She will continue to be fondly remembered as Amma for generations."

In Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam paid tributes to Jayalalithaa on her birth anniversary. In a letter to party workers, Panneerselvam and Palaniswami, who now head the party, said its alliance with the BJP was in national interest and following the footsteps of Jayalalithaa, who had struck a poll deal with the BJP in 1998.

They  exhorted party workers to take a vow to bag "magnificent victories like Puratchi Thalaivi Amma," in the coming Lok Sabha elections and in the bypolls expected to 21 Assembly seats. "We have cobbled up a victorious alliance that would guard national interests like the one sewn by Puratchi Thalaivi in 1998," EPS and OPS said.