CHENNAI: With every passing minute on Friday morning, it was becoming increasingly clear that the AIADMK was all set to return to Fort St George with a thumping majority.
Not surprisingly, Amma's abode and Poes Garden, where measured excitement prevailed till 9.15 am, soon transformed into a hotbed of activity as several cadre and supporters gathered.
Those present included some of the top cops and bureaucrats of the state who paid a visit to the Chief Minister-elect, bouquets in hand.
Several women, clad in green sarees, took over the streets soon after the first announcement of the results were made, and they distributed sweets, burst crackers and sang Hosannas of their leader, hailing her as TN's Nirandhara Mudhal Amaichar (permanent CM).
Soon, district functionaries, including MGR Youth Wing state secretary Adhi Rajaram, and star campaigners actors Anandhraj, CR Saraswathi and Gundu Kalyanam arrived to join others in their wait for Amma.
"We will win all 234 seats without difficulty because of Amma's intention to do good to the people, as her manifesto indicates," said a supporter.
By noon, the possibility of Amma forming a government on her own owing to an overwhelming majority was being widely discussed.
Around 12.30 pm, partymen and media stormed into Veda Nilayam, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jayalalithaa.
Jayalalithaa made her first public appearance, waving from the first floor balcony of her house around 12.45 pm.
By then, most of the city's top cops had arrived and were waiting to greet the CMtobe.
Among the earliest to arrive with flowers were Shyam Sunder, DGP/ Director, Fire and Rescue Services, who stayed on till evening. CoP T Rajendran, Lethika Saran, DGP, M Ravi, ACP Traffic, Shakeel Akhter, ACP Law and Order, Sanjay Arora, ACP, crime and headquarters, Archana Ramasundaram, ADGP, CBCID, R Sekar, former CoP, and K Radhakrishnan, ADGPLaw and Order, were among the top police officiers who arrived at Poes Garden around noon and were in the queue.
Later, bureaucrats including health secretary VK Subburaj, Metro Water Managing Director Rajesh Lakhoni, Municipal Administration and Water Supply secretary K Ashok Vardhan Shetty, Environment and Forest Secretary V Irai Anbu, and Cooperation and Consumer Protection Secretary Swaran Singh paid a visit to convey their wishes.
Others who visited in the evening included actor Vijay and his father SA Chandrasekaran, and actors Vanitha Vijaykumar, Vaiyapuri and Anandbabu. Despite all cheer and excitement, if there were one sore point for the partymen, it had to be the mention of the Kolathur seat.
Curious whispers were exchanged among AIADMK partymen throughout the day on the issue, as the high profile constituency, where AIADMK had pitted Saidai Duraisamy against DMK's MK Stalin, eluded a clear result till late evening.
In a bid to capture the attention of the crowd, several AIADMK supporters repeatedly announced that Duraisamy had won from there, though they were found to be false.