Flags & festoons add colour, but fervour missing

CHENNAI: It was the usual sight from Maduravoyal en route to the Srivaaru Kalyana Mandapam at Vanagaram on the outskirts of Chennai. Flag posts, festoons and banners lined up the entire stretch, as it happens whenever there is a big party occasion. But this time the fervour was missing as the AIADMK general council met on Tuesday.

Policemen, flags and banners far outnumbered cadres outside the venue. Just a few hundred of them were seen crowding the entrance. They were not boisterous and the sloganeering was subdued, except when convoys of top leaders trundled into the venue. “Adhellam Amma voda pochi (gone with Amma),” explained a cadre about the pensive mood around.

There were the usual ‘chanda melam’ teams, but small in number. “How can they (Sasikala clan) even think of taking over the party,” asked one cadre. “If that group controls the party, we can be pretty sure that not a single woman in the villages will vote for us,” said another. But the group soon dispersed, after sensing that a policeman from the intelligence wing was standing close by.

A few metres away, another group was comparing the size of portraits of Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam. “This is good,” said one cadre, pointing to a banner, which had EPS and OPS next to each other. Another banner nearby had the profile of OPS on top and that of EPS below. “This must be the handiwork of K P Munuswamy (a prominent leader of the erstwhile OPS faction),” pointed out another. That banner had Munuswamy’s name in big letters.

The mood outside soon changed. Clouds had moved in and rain followed which dampened the atmosphere further as cadres took shelter under whatever little space they could find nearby, leaving the road deserted.

‘Cycle Vadivel’ is a familiar face seen on big occasions of the party. A ‘parotta master’ from Thiruchengode in Namakkal district, he was carrying a ‘two leaves’ symbol, made of metal and mounted on a stand on his head. “How is the feeling (in the party)” this correspondent asked him as he laid it down on the ground. He threw both hands up and showed the sky, as if indicating it is up to the almighty now.

Another person from Tiruppur soon joined. Pointing to the photographs of MGR and Jayalalithaa on the metal stand and on one leaf, he said, “Only they are permanent.” About EPS and OPS on the other leaf, he said, “These are like any of us. Anyone can replace them.”