Cutting across party and religious affiliations, traders, merchants and people of all walks of life of Tiruchi joined together by shutting the doors of shops and business establishments spontaneously to share the sorrow over the death Jayalalithaa.
As the day dawn with the news of the demise of one of the beloved leaders of the State, the grief stricken cadres of the AIADMK and well wishers of Jayalalithaa brought out portraits of her and placed them on road junctions and important locations to offer floral tributes to her. In some places, the mourners lined up in queues to pay their last respect to the departed leader. Small to big size portraits of Jayalalithaa sprang up in front of various business houses including hotels and restaurants.
“It is one of the sad days in my life. She should have lived for at least 10 more years to serve the country. It is a real loss to Tamil Nadu,” said S. Selvaraj (70), one of the mourners who paid homage to the portrait of Jayalalithaa in Cantonment.
Party men took out silent rallies to mourn the death of their beloved leader in many places. Besides the cadres and sympathisers of AIADMK, her well wishers also took part in it. Similarly, the AIADMK workers, community and social organisations paid their homage by erecting banners and pasting posters in various places.
Contrary to the expectation, the day passed off without any untoward incident. Not even a stone pelting incident was reported in any part of the district.
As a mark of paying tribute to the great leader, the traders and businessmen preferred to declare holiday on Tuesday. Hundreds of shops and business establishments were closed. With the spontaneous participation of mourners, the activities of the busy Gandhi market came to a grinding halt.
The sprawling Tiruchi Central Bus stand, which is otherwise busy with the operation of bus services to many destinations round the clock, looked deserted with buses of State owned transport corporations and private firms halting at their bases. No even a single bus was operated in the city.
Similarly, vans, cars, lorries and auto rickshaws were off road. The traffic was very thin on National Highways, except for a few private cars.
