Hilary Clinton could make history in November by becoming the first female President in the United States. But if an AIADMK legislator is to be believed, Clinton owes her thanks and inspiration for breaking the glass ceiling in the US to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
Speaking at the Tamil Nadu Assembly, AIADMK MLA from Conoor, Ramu said, “Amma is the beginning of change in Tamil Nadu and it is no exaggeration to say that.”
After all, “The main and whole reason for America seeing its first ever female Presidential candidate is Amma,” explained Ramu.
He said that when then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited India in 2011, she had also met Jayalalithaa. Clinton becoming the Presidential candidate is “an echo of that meeting”, he reasoned.
He went on to say that Clinton was” inspired and mesmerised” by Jayalalithaa's amazing English proficiency and governing skills.
Ramu also said the “whole world is still celebrating the importance of that meeting today.”
Hilary Clinton had called on Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat in Chennai on July 20, 2011. During the one-hour meeting, the then Secretary of State and the Chief Minister covered social, political, economic issues besides discussing the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. Clinton also invited Jayalalithaa to visit the US so Americans would know about the great achievements of Tamil Nadu.
Jayalalithaa had in June this year congratulated Clinton on clinching the nomination as the Democratic Party’s candidate for US Presidential Election.
“It is a matter of immense pride and satisfaction for all the women in the world and in particular, women in democratic electoral politics that you have become the first woman to be a candidate of one of the two major political parties in the United States for the Presidency.
In creating history, you have given voice and hope to the cause of women empowerment across the world,” Jayalalithaa stated in her letter.