Rich tributes paid to Jaya, AIADMK takes out silent procession to her memorial

Chennai, Dec 5: Thousands of people thronged her memorial as rich tributes were paid to former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on the occasion of her first death anniversary on Tuesday.

The ruling AIADMK today took out a silent procession from the Anna statue to Jayalalithaa's memorial on the Marina. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, their cabinet colleagues, AIADMK MPs, MLAs and senior leaders, clad in white dhoti and black shirts, participated
in the procession and paid floral tributes at her memorial, which was decorated with flowers to mark the occasion. Before starting the procession, the AIADMK leaders offered floral tributes to a portrait of Jayalalitha near the Anna statue on the arterial Anna Salai.
After paying tributes at the memorial, Mr Panneerselvam, who is also the Coordinator of the party, administered a pledge to the Ministers, MPs and MLAs, which stressed on the need to stay united and to protect the AIADMK movement, which was founded 
by MGR and developed and nurtured by Jayalalaithaa.
Later they observed two minutes silence at the memorial as a mark of respect to the departed leader.
Meanwhile, thousands of AIADMK cadres and people from various parts of the state thronged the memorial to pay tributes to the late leader.
Several women cadres wailed in front of the memorial and recalled the poignant moments witnessed on this day last year, when Jayalalithaa was declared dead after 75 days of treatment at the Apollo hospital.
A large crowd was seen at the Marina beach front and police have made elaborate security arrangements to regulate the crowd. UNI