All round celebrations at AIADMK headquarters as cadre burst into joy

At the Secretariat here, the AIADMK supporters made a beeline for the ministers and their PAs. At the party headquarters in Royapettah, all the state ministers led by the Chief Minister and his deputy O Panneerselvam gathered for a quick celebration and shared sweets.

Though the usual fanfare and the large crowd that former leader J Jayalalithaa commanded was missing, a few hundred supporters thronged the party headquarters in Avvai Shanmugham Salai.

Former councillors, particularly women, thronged with their supporters and danced to the tunes of MGR songs and drums.

“We are confident that the ‘Amma’ government will complete its five-year term and the CM and deputy CM have proved that they can protect this party from the opposition,” said former south Chennai MP Chittlapakkam Rajendran.

For supporters of AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran it was a tough day. They thronged the Madras High Court and the Besant Nagar residence of their leader with crackers and sweets, but the HC verdict gave a heart break for them. A battery of lawyers representing the 18 MLAs were also upset in the jam-packed court hall 6.

For the learned counsels, the case was over within ten minutes after the third judge Justice M Sathyanarayanan started pronouncing the verdict. For public prosecutors and government leaders, it was a day of relief as any change in regime will result in the appointment of new set of goernment pleaders.