These fans are driven by devotion to Jaya

These fans are driven by devotion to Jaya
F or the past 27 years, Marimuthu and his wife Rajathi have been on Jayalalithaa’s campaign trail. They’re neither part of her retinue nor journalists — they’re loyal supporters who set up shop outside her rally venues across the state and peddle flags, photos, pens and other paraphernalia that are in demand among cadres.
When they’re not on the road in an election year, the couple runs a small shop opposite the AIADMK party office on Avvai Shanmugam Salai in Royapettah in Chennai.“This is our source of survival. We go wherever Amma goes,” Rajathi says. They are just back from Salem where she was campaigning recently. The couple cannot imagine a future without Jayalalithaa. “She has introduced many policies for the welfare of the public. She is the god of the poor in the state,” says Marimuthu, 55, listing a few ‘Amma’ schemes.
In 2003, Marimuthu had a shop in Egmore and used to hoist the AIADMK flag atop it every day. The then DMK MLA told the couple to vacate the shop. “He attempted to kill me. We had no idea what to do after they kicked us out,” Marimuthu says.
“I had only option — to meet Amma and seek her help but I wasn’t sure it was possible,” he adds. When Jayalalithaa came to Beach Road, Marimuthu managed to stop her car to tell her his problems.
“After a few days, her office staff made arrangements and helped me to set up my shop opposite her office,” he says, adding that he later changed his name to ‘Jaya’ Marimuthu to show his respect. Marimuthu, who describes himself as an alcoholic, says he’s looking forward to prohibition in the state. “I drink because I cannot find a solution to all the problems in the country. Drinking is a terrible disease,” he says.
His friend Sarangapani, who organises bike campaigns for the party in the state, agrees, and adds that he rides his outlandishly decorated motorbike in the hope of meeting Jayalalithaa one day.
Sarangapani rides a bike bedecked with party flags and photos of MGR and Jayalalithaa. On his head he wears a tall, iron headdress shaped like the two leaves symbol of the AIADMK, topped with a flag.
As Sarangapani poses with his headgear, Rajathi sums up the underlying belief that drives their devotion: “Unlike the DMK, where the entire family is into politics, Amma is a single woman army.”