People stream in high numbers at Rajaji Hall

Lakhs of people flocked to pay their last respects to the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, whose mortal remains were brought to Rajaji Hall at 4.30 am on December 6.  The lack of public transport didn’t deter her followers, who started streaming into the venue as early as 5 am, some crying, while others chanted slogans, punctuating the air with cries of ‘Puratchi Thalaivi Amma’. The crowds only grew bigger as the day proceeded, and the heavy deployment of police force struggled to control the masses, as emotions ran high. Women, clad in the AIADMK’s signature green colour, were lamenting the passing away of their ‘amma’. They broke down on getting a direct view of their leader. 

People flashed the victory sign as mobile cameras were busy, as many were clicking selfies to record the sombre moment. Ardent followers broke the police lines to even offer a prayer to the politician, whom they considered as goddess. Some waved larger-than-life cutouts or photo frames of Jayalalithaa, snapshots of former CM, the late M. G. Ramachandran or the AIADMK flag. Sasikala Natarajan, Jayalalithaa’s long-time confidante, remained close to the casket, throughout the day, as AIADMK MLAs chose to be seated close by. The Leader of Opposition an DMK Treasurer MK Stalin arrived early to pay their respects, as well as DMDK founder Vijayakanth and actor Rajinikanth, who was accompanied by his family, including son-in-law, actor Dhanush. 

Other party leaders such as CPI head Raja, PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss and MDMK’s Vaiko too paid floral tributes. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and former Governor K Rosaiah paid their respects to the formidable leader. President of India Pranab Mukherjee also flew down, to lay a wreath. Several heads of states also flew down to offer their tributes. Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah were present, while former CM of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu and former CM of Kerala Oommen Chandy too visited. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by Ghulam Nabi Azad and Su Thirunavukkarasar, TN Congress President, came during the evening. Representatives from the film industry were aplenty – Vijay, Suriya, Karthi, Nasser, Khushbu, Sundar C, Arun Vijay, Simran, Saroja Devi, Namitha, Nayantara, Anirudh, A L Vijay, Srikanth paid their respects to the leader. At the stroke of four in the evening, the military forces cleared the crowds and the casket was placed on the hearse, as the late Chief Minister’s last journey to her final resting place began with a grand procession, as crowds chanted slogans of ‘amma vazhga’. The party cadres lead the procession, as people had lined up in the streets, strewing flowers or weeping inconsolably for the loss of a leader, whom they mourned deeply.

Chaotic scenes and near-stampede situation prevailed many times on Tuesday. Party men and public broke police cordons to have a last glimpse of Jayalalithaa, throwing security arrangements out of gear. Police had a tough time controlling people as they surged forward pushing down iron barricades towards the spot where the body was kept. They entered via the Tamil Nadu Multi-Super Speciality Hospital side entrance and rushed in. For several hours, police personnel did their best to hold the iron barricades in place. However, at one point of time they found the situation uncontrollable leading to collapse of barricades. Similarly, hundreds of AIADMK workers and anxious people pulled down a rope held by police personnel to prevent their entry into the VVIP entrance at the rear side. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi left the venue, hundreds began to march towards the fleet of stairs to the VVIP entrance. A big chunk of people managed to come in there and headed straight to the spot where Jayalalithaa’s body was kept. At one point the crowd began to swell, prompting VVIPs including some ministers to make room to ease the situation. On several occasions, police had to resort to mild baton-charge. Many youngsters had fierce altercation with police officials. Women and elderly persons who were caught in the melee pleaded with police personnel to help them get out of the queue. Some, including a former Rajya Sabha MP, fainted.

Over two tonne of flowers from several destinations were used by about 40 workers who worked for 10 hours to prepare the Army truck and gun carriage for the final journey of Jayalalithaa. The flowers were of two varieties, one being the decorative kind, including cut flowers like zebra plant, asparagus and daisy and the other, more traditional varieties like rose and white marigold ( Vellai sa mandi in Tamil). A total of over 2,000 kilos of flowers were used for making garlands and flower hangings.