Cadres flock to Poes Garden, urge Chinnamma Sasikala to 'save' AIADMK

Chennai: They are coming in waves; each big wave with a few hundreds of AIADMK functionaries from a district. They are arriving at Poes Garden bungalow of late party supremo Jayalalithaa to pledge their loyalty to Chinnamma Sasikala after being told that she is meeting party functionaries to share her grief over the demise of Amma and to listen to their ‘suggestions’ — which begin and end with just one prayer: take over the mantle, become the general secretary, only you can save our party.

Wiping a tear now and then, Sasikala listens patiently to the large delegations from different districts after they are herded into the bungalow by the police outside and the personal security men within. She spends considerable time meeting the party persons, apart from several important personalities including entrepreneurs, newspaper editors, artistes and litterateurs.

Actually, none of those marching in droves into Poes Garden appears to be grieving Amma’s loss. Chests puffed out and faces lit with energy, these men and women, dressed prim and proper, seem to be rushing in to pledge loyalty to the new leader and begin work for the future in right earnest, in quick time.

“They are all coming with one agenda, to get Chinnamma to accept the position of party general secretary. This will ensure that our party remains united and strong; any other leader would be only seen as representing a particular region or group. She has deep knowledge of the affairs of the party and the government having been closely associated with Amma for several years”, said ‘Aspire’ Swaminathan, former IT wing secretary of the AIADMK, while watching the crowds pass by to reach Veda Nilayam. “The DMK is waiting to break us if we betray any sign of weakness at this testing time. We will not allow that to happen”, he added.

There’s no jostling, no pushing and shouting though the crowds are big and the street is narrow, shrunk further by the cyclone-felled trees and the SUVs of party VIPs; only there were one or two altercations of the restless district functionaries at the police barricades metres away from the imposing gates of Veda Nilayam.
Asthana photographer Reuben is busier than ever clicking Chinnamma’s interactions through the day. Party headquarters mail the pictures to media houses by the evening to make sure the world knows how quickly and effectively she is consolidating the command and how her party functionaries are pleading with her to lead them. Hardworking Reuben had taken exclusive pictures during the MGR tenure and thereafter recorded Jayalalithaa’s public engagements for posterity; now he seems happy doing it for Chinnamma.

The local residents exercised patience, understanding well the unusual and unavoidable flood of people descending from all over the state. They quietly steered their cars through the crowd and the metal barricades. Fortunately, the party headquarters staggered the appointments in such a way that Chinnamma would meet the functionaries from half a dozen districts each day, apart from the non-political VIPs.

“She has done a brilliant thing stepping out so quickly to meet the party people. She is showing herself as being accessible. She may lack Amma’s charisma but she is making that up by this accessibility factor. You should not be surprised if soon gets trained in public speaking and begins touring the state to address rallies”, said an AIADMK senior requesting anonymity.