It was a day of joy for the residents of the temple town of Srirangam on Sunday as Chief Minister Jayalalithaa began her three-day thanksgiving tour with a visit to the Sri Renganatha Swamy Temple in the morning and participating in a government function in the evening.
Not only the cadre of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, but every resident of Srirangam town and other parts of the Assembly constituency, was delighted at the presence of the Chief Minister amidst them both in the morning and evening.
The maiden visit of Ms. Jayalalithaa to Srirangam constituency after her landslide victory in the April 13 Assembly elections had aroused lot of expectations among the people of the whole district. Abiding by her direction to avoid extravaganza, the government machinery and the AIADMK had kept a low profile of the whole affair. However, this in no way affected the zeal and enthusiasm of the party cadre and the residents of Srirangam in any way.
The usual giant-size flex boards, banners, festoons and hoardings etc were missing to a big extent even near the venue of the public meeting and also near the MLA office which she inaugurated on the Mambazha Saalai although the euphoria displayed by the people was visible.
During her visit to the Srirangam Temple, the Chief Minister ensured that the devotees were not disturbed in any manner. Even as she was leaving out of the temple, a large number of devotees could have a glimpse of her from close quarters.
The absence of pomp and splendour during the maiden visit of Chief Minister to Srirangam constituency and the least disturbance to the common man in terms of traffic movement, offering worship at the Temple, was well appreciated by all sections of the society.
“These developments are only indicative of the humility and a new trend set in motion by the new AIADMK regime. This heralds a right beginning and testifies that the regime would focus on people oriented schemes. This has aroused lot of expectations among the locals that the Chief Minister will continue to live up to that”, observed Mrithula, a housewife of Ammamandapam road and Rajasundari, a senior citizen of Tiruvanaikovil.
The AIADMK local units have made all efforts to make the visit of Ms. Jayalalithaa a big hit. The Rockfort unit of the party had conducted cultural programmes at prominent places welcoming the Chief Minister and her people oriented programmes.
The troupe presented songs not only highlighting the achievements of Ms. Jayalalithaa, but also focussing various ‘irregularities' of the previous DMK regime, which led to its downfall.
Earlier, the Chief Minister on her arrival from Chennai by a special flight in the morning.
She was received at the airport by her cabinet colleagues, top officials and partymen.