Day 50: Crowd weak, but hope strong among Jaya loyalists

Despite the hardship, the small group is determined to stay put till Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa comes out of the hospital. On the whole, the mood is upbeat among the cadre since the hospital management recently announced that the Chief Minister was keeping well. 

A policeman posted outside Apollo Hospitals told DTNext that he could observe less number of party cadre visiting the hospital of late. “They know that the CM is recovering and will return home soon. This can be one of the reasons for the reduction in the number of partymen at the hospital. For the past two days, it has been even lesser after the demonetisation announcement,” he said. A Sumathi, an AIADMK cadre of Pallavaram who was with other cadre near the hospital said, “I come here twice a week since the CM was admitted and pray for her speedy recovery.” 

Immediately, the group of women sitting near the main gate of the hospital said in unison, “Our prayers will be answered and the CM will return home soon.” The police personnel are relieved that the crowds have dipped and visit of VIPs to the hospital as well. “Earlier, it used to be a tough task to regulate the crowd, now the situation has eased,” he said. The improvement of the CM’s health has helped small time vendors and auto rickshaw drivers return to their daily routine. They  were hit earlier  owing to the crowd and groups standing near the hospital. 

“Earlier, I suffered a lot but things have changed and I have resumed my business now,” said  Balakrishnan, a tea stall owner, wishing Jaya a speedy recovery. The Chief Minister was admitted at the Apollo Hospitals here on September 22 for fever and dehydration, according to an official release, and has been receiving intensive treatment for the past 50 days. While there has been no official bulletin on the CM’s health in the past few weeks, Chairman of Apollo hospital Dr Pratap C Reddy recently announced that the CM was doing fine.