Take our lives, give us our Amma: Crowd outside hospital

Chennai: Thousands of AIADMK cadres filled the Greams road where the Apollo Hospital is situated, forcing police to close the arterial road in central Chennai for vehicular traffic as the news of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation spread like wild fire the city. She was ambulated from her Poes Garden bungalow late Thursday night following fever and dehydration.

“Take our lives and give us our Amma,” prayed a crowd of cadres camped outside the main gate of the hospital. Some were seen sobbing. Although the hospital bulletins announced she was recovering fast, the AIADMK cadre pouring in from far and wide appeared worried and expressed concern.

While the large posse of police men and their vehicles, apart from the many television OB vans, parked on the roads close to Apollo made the passersby curious, the hospital itself seemed like a mini Secretariat as many senior officials were seen floating around. Media persons from across the country have descended on the hospitals.

With the roads to the hospital blocked, the patients had to be wheeled in and out from the main road. Even the local residents had to depend on two-wheelers or just walk. “There is heavy traffic especially on Mount road and Anna Salai. But we are ready to bear any discomfort for Amma’s well being”, said a Greams Road resident.

Women cadres from R.K. Nagar holding Jayalalithaa’s picture expressed hope that she will be out of danger soon. “She has done so much for our welfare. I am going to wait here till Amma comes out healthy”, said M. Vasuki from CM’s constituency. “How can I eat and sleep peacefully at home when Amma is unwell”, she was heard asking a policeman who ordered her to leave the place.

VVIPs including MPs, Ministers and Assembly Speaker, besides film stars, continued to drop in at the hospital through the day. Hospital sources said visitors were not allowed to disturb the VVIP patient.