Party cadre continue to throng Deepa Jayakumar’s house, unmindful of the rather hectic developments in Tamil Nadu politics. They have long been waiting for former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s niece to take the plunge into politics, and some among them continue to wait.
On Thursday afternoon, around 100 persons, including women and a few with children, waited for a glimpse of Ms. Deepa.
N. Sakunthala Mani of Annur Panchayat in Coimbatore wants Ms. Deepa to take over as Chief Minister. “It is her face. She resembles Amma and that is enough. No one else can replace her,” she says earnestly.
S. Srinivasan of R.K. Nagar declared, “I come here every day to tell her that nobody knows Sasikala in my constituency.”
A family that came from Tirunelveli was disappointed that they were not allowed inside the house.
“Each day her husband comes out and collects all our details and we will be called once she announces her decision on February 24,” said C. Brindha, an LIC agent who comes daily from Triplicane to spend a few hours at the gate.
Doing brisk business
After learning that Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam would give her support, the party workers went to the CM’s house. “But there was so much crowd that we decided to come here and wait,” said Rajendran of Tiruvallur.
Initially, only one person had spread a shop on the street near Ms. Deepa’s house selling MGR’s and Jayalalithaa’s photos and party memorabilia. Now, there are four shops.
Thanikachalam, one of the vendors, said: “I used to sell Amma’s photos even when she had the cock symbol for election at her Alwarpet office. Then I moved to the AIADMK headquarters. Now, I am here.”
