Jaya supporters elated over Amma's victorious turn

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: AIADMK state secretary advocate Sreenivasan Venugopal's happiness knew no bounds when former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, accused of possessing disproportionate assets, was acquitted by the Karnataka high court on Monday morning. Unable to burst crackers on the premises of the district court, he celebrated Amma's victory by distributing sweets to AIADMK supporters and his colleagues at the Trivandrum Bar Association.
"This is a sweet victory for all of us who have been praying hard for her comeback. Justice has been done as she was not found guilty by the court. Workers of our party, spread over 10 districts in Kerala, hope that her return will do wonders to our neighbouring state that is deprived of progress," Venugopal said.
Sudalai Mony, 36, a waiter at a vegetarian restaurant, was also over the moon after hearing the verdict. "My mother said my 74-year-old father sprang up from the sofa when he watched today's breaking news. I couldn't help calling my relatives and friends in Tuticorin when the judgement was in favour of Amma," he said.
"O Panneerselvam was just a puppet, I am pretty confident that Jayalalithaa will rule the state as a much stronger and powerful woman than she is today. The different schemes proposed and the metro rail under construction in Chennai will start functioning in full swing if she gets crowned again," said Viji Narayanan, a 28-year-old homemaker from Nagercoil.
However, not everyone seemed to share the joy. "Jayalalithaa does not deserve a political comeback. We wanted her to accept her flaws and restrain herself from politics. She must have gone through a lot of mental torture but the court verdict is not acceptable to some of us," said 52-year-old Muthulakshmi R, a native of Dindigul who was in the city on a personal visit.
An SETC employee said on condition of anonymity that the central government must have tied up with AIADMK, a powerful regional party.
"AIADMK is at its best when headed by Jayalalithaa. When compared to the other parties in the state, it is much better," said Tirunelveli-native Sreeram, a final year BTech student of Pankajakasthuri College of Engineering and Technology.