A statue of Jayalalithaa unveiled by the AIADMK's top leaders today, on the occassion of her birth anniversary. (Photo: Twitter/@Iamtssudhir)

A woman stands, cast in shimmering metal, before the headquarters of the AIADMK, and holds up her index and middle fingers to evoke the two leaves of her party's symbol. She beams, her smile queenly and confident, reminiscent of a leader who contemplated delirious crowds from a thousand podiums and stages. MG Ramachandran flanks her, aureate and triumphant, unmoved by the melee of cameras and reporters jostling for space.

In nearly every aspect of sculpture, from the gestural to the sartorial, the woman evokes the matriarch of the AIADMK, who would have celebrated her seventieth birthday today. But pay close attention to the visage, the face of the statue commissioned to honour her, and it hits you that the woman smiling back is not J Jayalalithaa.

Excess of artistic licence? Deficit of talent? Hurried execution? Whatever caused the error, it did not go unnoticed.

"I congratulate the dedicated sculptor and the ADMK* visionaries who commissioned this wonderful two-in-one statue - Place a hat and dark glasses, It will resemble MGR. Remove them, It can be called Amma," remarked the actor Kasturi Shankar, in a tweet she posted after Jayalalithaa's successors in government - Chief Minister Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam - unveiled the statue Saturday.

Shankar wondered if there was a "conspiracy" to use the occasion to honour VK Sasikala instead.

Is this a conspiracy to project chinamma's face onto amma... starting with her hairstyle, naamam, blouses, now statue...completing sasikala's metamorphosis into jayalalitha ! https://t.co/YXnaGtDESS kasturi shankar (@KasthuriShankar) February 24, 2018

An aide and confidante of Jayalalithaa's, Sasikala was convicted in a disproportionate assets case and imprisoned shortly after the former chief minister's death. She briefly commanded the loyalty of a majority of AIADMK lawmakers. Her nephew, TTV Dhinakaran, recently succeeded Jayalalithaa as the MLA from RK Nagar in northern Chennai.

"This is an insult, not (a) tribute," Kasturi Shankar wrote.

One senior journalist, the state bureau chief of a TV channel, even said there should be an investigation.

Several others concurred with the general view that the statue was not of Jayalalithaa.

This looks nothing like Jayalalithaa. Not even close. Why is this even being unveiled? #jayalalithaastatue pic.twitter.com/b7Clgb9ktY Anna Isaac (@anna_isaac) February 24, 2018

This looks nothing like Jayalalithaa https://t.co/SF4YcD9KS9 Vasudha Venugopal (@vasudha_ET) February 24, 2018

First the controversy over whether #Jayalalithaa portrait should be unveiled in the #Tamilnadu assembly. Now her statue that doesnt look like her but more like some other persons who are alive. pic.twitter.com/2om9TkmDLc T S Sudhir (@Iamtssudhir) February 24, 2018

But this editor, perhaps, said it best.

Someone said on my FB that the same guy made Jayalalithaa's statue. pic.twitter.com/v60neYlcBP Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) February 24, 2018

CORRECTION: A previous headline incorrectly said the statue is at the Tamil Nadu Assembly. It was unveiled at the AIADMK headquarters.

* ADMK is another of saying AIADMK, or All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

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