A sand sculpture of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was made and rich tributes were paid by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders and workers as also the general public at the Ramakrishna Beach here on Tuesday evening.
Wreaths and flowers were placed and lamps lit to pay homage to Jayalalithaa, who died in Chennai late on Monday night. Visitors took selfies with the sandsculpture in the background.
“I make it a point to have food at Amma Canteen, whenever I go to Chennai for crane repairs. One can get quality meals at Rs.13 and a mineral water bottle for Rs.10. The good thing is that the Amma Canteens are open to everyone without any discrimination,” said Mohd. Rafi, crane mechanic, who frequents Chennai to undertake crane repairs. He hoped that a similar effort made by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu would succeed.
Visakhapatnam South MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar described Jayalalithaa as a ‘visionary leader’ and a ‘a talented actress’, who had won the love of the masses by implementing various schemes for the welfare of the poor. She had made a place for herself in their hearts and would remain there forever. Though she had suffered certain setbacks in both her film and political career, she had proved that with hard work and determination one could rise again.
Visakhapatnam East MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu said she was role model for women to succeed in life.
Sculptor Chintapalli Polaraju, who is also general secretary of TDP Urban Cultural Cell, was all praise for Jayalalithaa’s concern for the poor. “I have been making sand sculptures since 2009,” Polaraju, who is a BFA graduate of the 2000 batch from Andhra University, said. He has earlier made sand sculptures of the former President APJ Abdul Kalam, the ‘Samaikhyandhra movement’ and Sachin Tendulkar on his retirement from cricket. Senior party leader and Erothi Maria Das is a big fan of Jayalalithaa having watched her films in Telugu. He is also impressed by her work for the poor.
Telugu Mahila leader A. Vani, party leaders Md. Nazeer and Erothi China Kumar were among those who paid tributes. A banner of Jayalalithaa was hung across the tree barks at the park near Gandhi statues at Asilametta and tributes were paid by people.
