| Saturday , May 23 , 2015 |
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150523/jsp/nation/story_21696.jsp#.VV_ro9Kqqko
 Grown up, why this girl has become the subject of such adulationSighted: Jayalalithaa on power drive- Delhi guests expected at swearing-in today | |
| G.C. Shekhar | |
 After being elected leader of the AIADMK legislature party early this morning, Jayalalithaa drove down to Raj Bhavan to stake her claim to form the government. Following her meeting with governor K. Rosaiah, where they exchanged identical bouquets, the governor's office announced that Jayalalithaa and 28 ministers would be sworn in tomorrow morning. Thousands of party cadres and supporters braved the swelter and waited hours in the streets for a glimpse of their Amma, and broke out in slogans when she whizzed by. Wearing a dark green sari and a smile, Jayalalithaa waved and folded her hands. "We came all the way from Erode (400km from Chennai) just to see Amma today," said V. Ravikumar, who had caught the night bus with eight fellow workers from a power loom factory. "All our prayers and penance for her return have been answered. There is no stopping her now." Ravikumar and his colleagues plan to stay overnight and watch the swearing-in as well. From Raj Bhavan, Jayalalithaa went through the now familiar ritual of showering flower petals before the statues of MGR, Annadurai and Periyar in that order.  Jayalalithaa, then actress and now chief minister-designate, with Karunanidhi, then chief minister and now bitter rival Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari are expected at tomorrow's swearing-in, providing further evidence of the growing political bonhomie between Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi, then Gujarat chief minister, had been a special invitee when Jayalalithaa was sworn in for her third term in May 2011. Jaitley was the only non-AIADMK politician to meet Jayalalithaa during her exile. Following the January meeting, the AIADMK changed its stand and supported the Centre's land acquisition bill, although it continues to oppose the goods and services tax bill in its present form. After the swearing-in, Jayalalithaa is expected to host a sumptuous lunch for the BJP leaders and other invitees at a city hotel. A recent Supreme Court order will prevent her government from issuing media advertisements with her pictures, as it used to do in the past. But her party leaders today took out ads in local newspapers welcoming her back as chief minister. The Tamil Nadu government has moved a review petition in the apex court challenging the May 13 order banning chief ministers' photographs in state government advertisements. |