President Mukherjee pays tribute to Jayalalithaa

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday paid tribute to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who died on Monday night following a cardiac arrest.

Mukherjee left for Chennai again, after the Indian Air Force (IAF) plane carrying him to Tamil Nadu earlier on Tuesday for late Jayalalithaa’s funeral returned to Delhi due to a technical snag.

He took off in the same aircraft after about an hour after returning to Delhi once the technical fault was fixed.

Earlier this morning, the aircraft had to return to Delhi 30 minutes into the flight was a technical snag was detected.

Sources said using a different aircraft for flying President to Chennai was mulled, but the technical snag was "minor" and fixed quickly to enable the President take the same craft to Chennai.

There was a problem with one of the filters, they said.

The aircraft had reached Agra when the snag was detected.

Earlier, remembering Jayalalithaa from the early days of his political career, Mukherjee on Tuesday expressed his condolences and said that she was a fighter having a wonderful mastery over facts and theories.

Speaking to ANI in Delhi, the President recalled Jayalalithaa entering into the Rajya Sabha when he was the Leader of the House around early 1980's.

"On many occasions I had interactions with her on all subjects concerning development and administration. She had a wonderful mastery over facts and theories," he said ahead of his departure to Chennai, where he will pay his last respects to Jayalalithaa.

Asserting that she was a fighter who fought till her last breath, President Mukherjee further said that she fought against the cruelty of disease and suffering.

"All other battles she won, but perhaps everybody has to lose one battle and she has lost that," he said.

Jayalalithaa passed away at 11:30 pm on Monday night after suffering a cardiac arrest at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai the previous day. Her funeral will be held at Marina beach in the city at 4:30 pm on Tuesday.