Jaya to stake claim today

Swearing-in ceremony of AIADMK ministry likely on Monday

It will be the third AIADMK government headed by J Jayalalitha since her mentor and party’s founder MGR first came to power in 1977.

Poes Garden, the residence of Jayalalitha, was the cynosure of all eyes for the second day running as scores of visitors and VIPs kept streaming in since morning to congratulate the leader on her tremendous success.

Notably, Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhi rang up “Amma” on Saturday morning from New Delhi and congratulated her.

This is more than an act of political courtesy and is seen as some sort of a thawing of decade-long frost between the two woman leaders.

Jayalalitha had thrown hints of her willingness to back the Congress last year after the CAG report on the “2G” scam became public in November.  According to sources in AIADMK circles here,  the party’s newly elected MLAs will meet at party headquarters here on Sunday morning to formally elect Jayalalitha their legislature party leader.

Thereupon, she will meet Governor S S Barnala to formally stake AIADMK’s claim to power, having won 147 seats on its own in the 234-member House.  “I am going to meet the governor tomorrow(Sunday), after that the venue, date and time of the swearing-in ceremony will be announced,” Jayalalitha told reporters, though the ceremony is expected to be held on Monday.

“The people of Tamil Nadu have reposed enormous faith and trust in us. We will live up to their expectations by fulfilling all the promises made in the manifesto,” the AIADMK leader said to a query.

First day out

In her first day out after the electoral results were fully announced, Jayalalitha first came to AIADMK headquarters and garlanded the full-size bronze statue of MGR.

A large number of party cadres greeted her as she came to the party office and many of the newly elected MLAs were also there in good strength. Then Jayalalitha garlanded another statue of MGR near the Spencer’s Junction on the arterial “Anna Salai,” which was unveiled by the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi many years ago.

“Amma” followed this up with garlanding the statue of DMK’s founder-leader C N Annadurai on the same road before paying homage at the “samadhis” of Annadurai and MGR on the beach-front. 

Last but not least, Jayalalitha also garlanded the statue of the grand Dravidian ideologue Periyar near the Gemini flyover.

Vijayakant is DMDK chief

 In a related development, actor-politician Vijayakant was elected the leader of the Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK) legislature party at their party headquarters on the city outskirts on Saturday. Interestingly, the DMDK which has 29 newly elected MLAs to the Assembly, also adopted a resolution at their first meeting that the party will function as a real opposition in the House.

“We will take up and highlight people’s problems,” said Vijayakant with the DMDK emerging as the second largest party in the new Assembly after the DMK was pushed to the third place as they won only 23 seats in the election.