An eerie silence descended on Poes Garden, where Veda Nilayam , the residence of former chief minister Jayalalithaa, is located after her mortal remains were taken to the Rajaji Hall on early Tuesday morning.
Except for police personnel deployed at various vantage points, there was no other movement in the area located off Cathedral Road.
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The roads of Poes Garden, once buzzing with activity, and the AIADMK party headquarters on Lloyds Road were almost deserted.
This was in stark contrast to early hours of Tuesday when party cadres started gathering in large numbers soon after the news spread that Jayalalithaa’s body will be taken to her residence.
People were allowed to enter Binny Road and wait there behind the barricades at 12.15 a.m. A number cars fitted with beacon lights carrying the newly sworn-in ministers entered the area around 2.30 a.m.
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But the waiting supporters demanded that the ministers to go on foot leaving their vehicles.
“When our beloved leader is taken in an ambulance, how dare you people come authoritatively with beacon lights on,” a group of cadres shouted as they blocked the cars.
At 2.40 a.m. the convoy carrying the remains of former chief minister passed through the roads of Poes Garden as the crowd raised slogans and there was a mild lathi charge. Nearly three hours later, the convoy left the residence of AIADMK supremo to Rajaji Hall.
The crowd started thinning down at Poes Garden then. However, as the day progressed, party cadres and common people started trickling in to the Poes Garden residence to get a glimpse of the place that once housed their beloved leader.
However, the road leading to the former chief minister’s residence was cordoned off for a distance of 100 metres and police turned away cadres and others who wanted to take a look at ‘Veda Nilayam’.
S. Ashok of Nungambakkam brought his family to Poes Garden. “We couldn’t enter the Rajaji Hall to pay homage to the former chief minister as the place was swelling with crowds. We decided to come here to show the place where she lived,” he said.
C. Manikandan, an AIADMK functionary in Tiruvallur, said: “We know there’s no one there. But, we just wanted to pay a visit to the place that housed our remarkable leader and was witness to many victories. It was once teeming with people. But, police asked us to come back later.”
Many lanes of Poes Garden still have barricades. Residents of Poes Garden recalled how Jayalalithaa stopped by to greet them.
“It is a great loss to us. During last year’s deluge, the roads were water-logged. I spotted her returning home and raised the issue to her. She didn’t take time to solve the problem and gave instructions immediately,” recalled Lakshmi Viswanathan, a resident.