The AIADMK allied with the Congress and swept to power in the 1991 assembly election under the leadership of J. Jayalalithaa who became the second female chief minister and the 5th chief minister of the state. Political observers have ascribed the landslide victory to the anti-incumbent wave arising out of the assassination of the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by suspected Tamil separatists fighting for a homeland in neighbouring Sri Lanka. The ensuing government, was accused of large-scale corruption, but Jayalalithaa held on to power for a full term of five years. In the 1996 assembly election, AIADMK continued its alliance with the Congress but suffered a massive rout, winning only four out of the 234 assembly seats, with even Jayalalithaa losing from Bargur.