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Tamil Nadu's chief minister Jayaram Jayalalitha  has an autocratic style of governing and a long history of battering and intimidating rivals that has earned her the nickname 'Iron Lady'.

She also enjoys the dubious distinction of filing more than 130 defamation cases against independent newspapers and magazines.

Those who know the glamorous 56-year-old former actress, say she cannot tolerate any opposition or criticism.

Besides governing Tamil Nadu with a strong hand - this week sacking a record number of government employees - she is a key figure in national politics because her All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party (AIADMK) has 11 members in India's parliament, making it a key constituent of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's federal coalition government.

A protegee of the legendary actor-turned-politician, M.G. Ramachandran, Ms Jayalalitha first became chief minister in 1991.

Between 1991 and 1996, several corruption scandals rocked her government. She accused the media of backing her detractors and filed at least 100 libel cases against newspapers.

But she withdrew most of the cases before the elections which she lost to her arch rival, Muthuvel Karunanidhi, and in 1997 was jailed on corruption charges.

Authorities seized 30kg of diamond-studded gold jewellery and more than 10,000 designer saris and 750 shoes from her luxurious Madras villa, which won her the sobriquet 'Booty Queen'.

When she recaptured power in 2001, one of the first things she did was to arrest Mr Karunanidhi.  TV footage of policemen dragging the 78-year-old out of his house in the middle of the night outraged viewers. But Ms Jayalalitha said she too had been arrested at such an hour and declared that she would make Mr Karunanidhi eat from the same prison plate and drink from the same steel glass as she had.

During her second term as chief minister, she has filed 30 defamation cases against newspapers and magazines, including half a dozen against The Hindu, one of India's most respected English dailies. The Hindu editor N. Ram said: 'Her basic problem is intolerance. The defamation cases are meant to curtail freedom of speech and expression, but we shall fight them.'

Even a father figure like Mr Vajpayee has failed to rein in Ms Jayalalitha. Last year, she arrested member of parliament V. Gopalaswamy - who is considered very close to the premier - under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for allegedly helping Sri Lankan rebels.

Federal leaders threatened to pull down her government, but she stuck to her guns. 'No one can  ... subdue me by harsh treatment; it only makes me more stubborn, inflexible, unbending, determined. The only way one can get me to co-operate is to be nice to me, pamper me, cajole me, talk to me kindly, softly,' she once said.



Stubborn style earns 'Iron Lady' some dubious distinctions