Panneerselvam asks Amma supporters to maintain discipline
Hopes of the AIADMK cadre of a belated Dussehra and an early Diwali celebration came crashing down on Tuesday as news trickled in that the Karnataka High Court rejected the bail application moved by party general secretary J Jayalalithaa who has been incarcerated in the Parappana Agrahara Jail since September 27.
A faux pas committed by some of the round-the-clock TV news channels which announced that Jayalalithaa had been granted conditional bail by the High Court resulted in AIADMK cadre all over Tamil Nadu rejoicing by bursting crackers, distributing sweets, dancing and singing only to give way to grief within minutes.
Party leaders and workers who had gathered in large numbers in front of the Poes Garden residence of Jayalalithaa jumped into celebratory mood when news channels reported that she had been granted conditional bail.
Murali Krishnan, the youth wing leader of the party was heard telling that the ordeal was over and Amma would soon be back in her residence. “This is the beginning of the series of victories awaiting Amma and the party. She will soon be acquitted in the case,” Krishnan told reporters.
But the celebrations were short lived . The news channels reported within minutes that the bail plea by the former Chief Minister was rejected by the High Court. Celebrations gave away to instant mourning . All those who were dancing and raising slogans eulogising Jayalalithaa were shocked and started weeping, wailing and beating their chests. Some of the women activists were seen rolling on the ground to give vent to their grief.
An appeal issued by Chief Minister O Paneerselvam, his first statement since being sworn in as the Chief Minister last Monday, asking party cadre to maintain public order and discipline helped to cool the tempers as most of the cadre began dispersing from Poes Garden, party headquarters and public places.
Paneerselvam asked party cadre to maintain discipline and public order and not to resort to any kind of violence or agitation. There were reports of stone pelting by groups of people at buses and business establishments in Chennai.
Interestingly, hundreds of DMK workers who had gathered in front of the Gopalapuram residence of party chief M Karunanidhi at Chennai were instructed by the second rung leaders of the party to go back and not to show any signs of jubilation. A heavy pose of policemen had been deployed at vantage points in Chennai and elsewhere in Tamil Nadu to control any untoward incident.