Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa passed away on December 5. Since then, the question of who will take over the party reins has been doing the rounds. In the last few days, it's become clear that it will be Sasikala, her longtime friend, who will step into her shoes.
With "Amma" gone, "Chinnamma" is making her presence felt and the posters across Chennai city and other parts of Tamil Nadu are an indication of things to come.
Take a look:
This one shows Sasikala in larger size, standing slightly behind Jayalalithaa.
This shows Sasikala with Jayalalithaa behind her. The wording says, "Chinnamma Sasikala, come and work and protect the party, come and accept the post of General Secretary, O Mother! This is the wish of crores and crores of cadre!"
This has Sasikala prominently in front of Amma. The poster says, "Chinnamma who has the people's CM Amma's blessings, the revolutionary leader of party cadre, come and accept the leadership!"
Jayalalithaa is shown showering flowers on Sasikala. The poster lauds Sasikala for being a "Golden Star, Dharma Goddess, Annapoorani, Jayalalithaa! The one who stayed with her, mixed with her life and her consciousness, revolutionary daughter Chinnamma!"
Sasikala looms large in this poster which goes: "To protect the child who has no mother, Chinnamma should accept leadership."
With the caption "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow!", this poster says it's "MGR, Amma, Chinnamma!"
Ilavarasi, Sasikala's niece, is now "Chinna Chinnamma". This poster says, "For all children who don't have an Amma, it's the Chinnamma who becomes a mother. Please come to accept the leadership, Mother! Chinna Chinnamma."
The prominent picture is that of Ilavarasi's. Sasikala's picture is sufficiently large while Jayalalithaa's picture has joined the ranks of past leaders.