The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, was accorded a rousing reception by the part men during her visit to Srirangam to participate in a government function on Monday.
Though Ms. Jayalalithaa has been visiting the district regularly ever since she was elected from the Srirangam Assembly constituency in the 2011 elections, Monday’s visit was special for the AIADMK cadre as this was her first stopover after the party’s landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
The AIADMK created a record by winning in 37 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in the State without forging any alliance.
The party cadre were in an upbeat mood, as they started arriving in the city from across the central region from the break of dawn.
Many of them in their eagerness to see their leader from close quarters, occupied vantage points on the road leading from airport to Srirangam.
The local ward units of the party had erected special dais at Subramaniapuram, Jail Corner, and TVS Tollgate to stage cultural programme by party troupes to entertain the large number of party men waiting to receive their leader. The bands presented vintage songs from the films in which party founder MGR and Jayalalithaa had played lead roles.
Evergreen numbersThe evergreen numbers from “Adimaippen”, “Aayirathil Oruvan”, “Olivilakku”, “Kumarikottam”, and “Kaavalkaran”, in which both AIADMK stalwarts had acted together, turned out to be crowd-pullers with workers thronging the venue with portraits of the party supremo. These songs teach the essential values of life, said K. Vennila, a women’s wing volunteer from Thanjavur.
“The election outcome was unparalleled and we wanted to share our joy with the Chief Minister,” said M. Ravi of Subramaniapuram.
Thankfully, the police had converted the grounds at G. Corner and Kottapattu to temporary parking lots for the use of party men, and this helped save the city from traffic hold-ups.