Uneasy calm in corridors of power

Chennai: Greenways Road, and its tributary, the PSKR Salai, the power centre of Tamil Nadu, housing the Chief Minister and state ministers’ residences, is in a sombre mood.  

It has been two weeks since  AIADMK party supremo J. Jayalalithaa went to jail and a new government put in place. But the mournful atmosphere in the AIADMK and the government refuses to be dispelled. It is visible along Greenways Road.

The morning walks, usually marked by the exchange of greetings between high-profile neighbours, ranging from state ministers to judicial members, is also a thing of the past.

Members of the cabinet, starting with Chief Minister Panneerselvam to health minister Vijayabhaskar, the latest entrant to the cabinet, accentuate the mood. Several members of the AIADMK ministry and former MLAs, who tried to look their best in crisp white shirts and white dhotis, have now taken to wearing black shirts during fasts and special prayers for early release of Jayalalithaa.

Many arrive at the secretariat in white, though some look like they have not shaved in a while and have the smear of sandal paste and vermilion on their foreheads. Recent visits by DC show that the footfall of party cadres, thronging the residence of state ministers, has also gone down.

Minister for housing and urban development R. Vaithilingan confines himself to his residential quarters and is in no mood to meet  party workers.

“Almost all the ministers are not encouraging party workers and they invite very few select functionaries to discuss the party mood or pour out their feelings,” said a police officer on duty near ‘Thennpennai’, the residence of the CM.

However, party office-bearers are not relenting.  They continue to deface the walls, facing the residences of ministers with posters and graffiti expressing their anguish over the recent court order convicting their party leader.