Chennai, April 26: Not all marriages are made in heaven. Some are made - and unmade - on the list of candidates consecrated by Amma.

Rama Ramanathan, a former legislator of the AIADMK who was later defeated thrice, had taken an oath to get hitched only after becoming an MLA again under the chief ministership of Jayalalithaa.

Ramanathan's hopes soared when Jayalalithaa nominated him to the Kumbakonam Assembly seat to contest the May 16 elections. Confident about his win, Ramanathan, now 51, had asked his relatives to look for a suitable bride.

But the marriage plans came crashing down yesterday when Amma replaced him with S. Rathna, the wife of a bus fleet owner. Ramanathan became the 28th AIADMK candidate to be changed after the party's official list was announced on April 4.

When the news reached him, Ramanathan, who was busy campaigning at Kumbakonam town, 285km from here, broke down and wept inside his car. He switched off his mobile phone and took refuge in a relative's farm.

But he gathered himself and came on the phone today. His caller tune exhibited his unswerving loyalty: an audio recording of him seeking votes for the AIADMK in the Lok Sabha elections, declaring that India would become a superpower if Jayalalithaa became Prime Minister.

Asked if he felt let down, Ramanathan philosophised: "What Amma has given, she has taken away. I nurture the hope that I could still get a chance to contest. Even if I do not get the MLA ticket, I will still work to ensure our party wins in Kumbakonam and Amma returns as chief minister."

Ramanathan admitted that he remained a bachelor since he had taken a solemn vow in his leader's name.

Asked if he made a mistake in confusing his political ambitions with his personal life, the former MLA pointed out that it was his politics that gave him a distinct identity in the society. "Who would know this Ramanathan if Amma had not made me an MLA in 1991?" he asked.

Ramanathan was a feisty 26-year-old when he was elected to the Assembly in 1991, when Jayalalithaa first became chief minister.

Other than Jayalalithaa, he was the only Brahmin in the Assembly and was distinguishable by the tuft at the back of his head. He attracted Jayalalithaa's attention with his humorous speeches and the way he would prostrate before her in full stretch.

In 1996, he was re-nominated to the Kumbakonam seat, only to be swept away by the anti-Jayalalithaa deluge in which Amma herself got defeated. It was then that Ramanathan had vowed he would get married only as an MLA and also when his leader would be chief minister. His hope of becoming an MLA again did not fructify as he was defeated thrice from 2001 even though Jayalalithaa became chief minister in 2001 and 2011.

So, 2016 was his ticket to marital bliss, Ramanathan had hoped, only for his "wedding vow" to get brutally nixed by his leader's sudden decision to junk him.

Like in the case of 27 others she had shuffled, Jayalalithaa gave no reason for shunting out Ramanathan. "Maybe his luck had run out as he had lost consecutive elections. Besides, the caste equation of Kumbakonam did not favour a Brahmin candidate any longer, which could have prompted our leader to choose a candidate from another community,"said an AIADMK parliamentarian.