Madurai: The city was in an eerie silence throughout Tuesday as the people were mourning the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
Arterial roads were literally empty with only a handful numbers of two-wheelers and four-wheelers plying since morning till late evening.
Even the streets and by-lanes wore a deserted look with people choosing to remain indoors, glued to television sets to watch live the proceedings of public and various leaders paying homage to the departed leader.
A few All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam cadres watched the funeral procession on two television sets put up at K. Pudur bus stand.
Most shops and commercial establishments, big and small alike, remained locked. Unlike in the past where political setbacks to leaders always led to unruly mobs indulging in violence or arson and forcing people to down shutters, this time the absence of any complaints of force only reflected that the people volunteered and joined the mourning party cadres.
All Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation buses went off the road throughout the day. Even the crowd in Madurai railway junction was very less compared to the huge crowd that will be present there on any normal day.
With the roads wearing a deserted look, all the traffic signals were switched to blinking mode. Even the busiest road junctions such as Goripalayam, Periyar bus stand and Kalavasal were no exemption. No traffic police were seen on the roads.
The party cadres paid homage to their leader on the roadside and streets at various places in the city. They paid floral tributes to the portraits and photographs of the leader.
In a city that has its own poster culture, surprisingly very few obituary posters had sprung up on the walls.
The city police said no untoward incident was reported in the city since Monday night.
