Vaikom Narayani Janaki (30 November 1923[1] – 19 May 1996), also known as Janaki Ramachandran,[3] was an Indian politician, actress and activist who briefly served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for 23 days after the death of her husband M. G. Ramachandran, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

[3] Her father, Rajagopal Iyer, was a Tamil Brahmin born and brought up in Kerala , brother of the musician and composer Papanasam Sivan.

[8] Janaki was not politically active during Ramachandran's life with only a handful of public appearances in AIADMK's early days.

[3] Ramachandran groomed other young leaders of his party for political responsibility, including the actress Jayalalithaa, with whom he was said to share a great professional rapport.

[9] Her ministry went for a sensitive vote of confidence of the Eighth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in January 1988.

The Congress party, under the directive of its national chief and then PM Rajiv Gandhi, had decided to vote neutral.

He had also decreed that the support of MLAs physically present in the assembly at the time of vote was sufficient.

She was buried beside her residence at MGR Thottam in Raamapuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

She gave property worth many million of dollars for the establishment of educational and charitable institutions in Tamil Nadu.