Jaya's 68th birthday: Amma is everything and everywhere ahead of TN elections

Chennai: In the next two months Tamil Nadu is facing Assembly elections. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa is celebrating her 68th birthday on Wednesday. Jaya mania is all-time high this year.

The AIADMK Assembly ticket aspirants are vying with each others to please Amma. They are celebrating her birthday in innovative ways. An AIADMK MLA has floated on water for 48 minutes to wish Amma happy birthday. It has got wide publicity in the media and he is sure of Amma's blessings in the upcoming elections. As part of birthday celebrations the AIADMK party members got Amma's picture tattooed on their arms. The tattoos read "Amma everything for us".

Speaking to media, AIADMK party workers said, "Amma is everything for us, she is like a god to us. To show gratitude, we tattooed her picture on our body parts. During the recent flood, she helped and gave Rs 5,000 as a relief amount to us and helped us to return back our normal lives," said Devi, one of Jayalalithaa’s supporter.

"We are celebrating Amma's birthday by tattooing our hand," said Kannan, another supporter reports The New Indian Express.

The party workers have also conducted mass marriages and placed bands on the grooms and brides heads with Jayalalithaa's photograph on it. The entire backdrop and décor was done with Jayalalithaa's posters. Several hundred such marriages have already taken place in the state.

The usual blood donation camps are being organised across Tamil Nadu and tens of Jayalalithaa fans are donating blood.

Jayalalithaa herself announced free bus travel for senior citizens in Chennai metropolitan area from her 68th birthday on February 24. Making the announcement in the state assembly last week, she asserted that with this the AIADMK government has fulfilled "all the electoral promises" made by the party in 2011 in the state, which is set to go to polls in next few months.

Auto drivers supporting Jayalalithaa are offering free rides to old people and the sick across the state. Special prayers are also being offered at various temples across the state. The AIADMK has set up toll free lines to wish her happy birthday. The lines were opened on Monday.