Jayalalithaa holds crisis talks in jail

BANGALORE, India, Sept 28, 2014 (AFP) - Former film star Jayalalithaa Jayaram, one of India's most colourful and controversial politicians, held crisis talks inside jail on Sunday after her conviction in a corruption case, an aide said.

Jayalalithaa, 66, who enjoys a cult following in the southern state of Tamil Nadu that she has long governed, was jailed for four years on Saturday over the case that has lasted nearly two decades.

A judge in the southern city of Bangalore found Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu's chief minister, guilty of amassing illegal wealth in the case that she has always dismissed as being politically motivated.

She spent the night in a cell in Bangalore's main jail in a extraordinary transformation of fortunes for the woman known as "Amma" (Mother) to her fans, whose ministers have been known to prostrate themselves before her.

Jayalalithaa, who was also fined one billion rupees ($16 million), met in jail with a group of senior lawmakers and officials from her All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) about choosing a new chief minister, a party official said.

Jayalalithaa is now disqualified from holding the top job, although she is expected to appeal to the High Court this week to seek her release from jail, according to reports.

"As our supremo, Jayalalithaa has advised cabinet colleagues and party leaders to convene a meeting of all lawmakers in Chennai later in the day and elect a leader to serve as our chief minister," the AIADMK official told AFP.