Reporter’s diary: ‘Amma’ like adulation for EPS with a little social media support

Not just in administration or management, EPS has replicated ‘Amma’ to perfection in engaging cadre’s warmth as well. A glimpse of the send-off his cadre gave him at the Chennai airport was a recent example. Watching scores of party workers prostrate before EPS was reminiscent of the adulation that Jayalalithaa evoked.

His cabinet colleagues aside, over 100 party men including MLAs and district secretaries took turns to greet the CM ahead of his foreign tour to UK. As if the shawls were not enough, posters and hoardings hailing the CM were found in all roads leading to the airport. Add the deafening dose of “long live Edappadiar” slogans chanted by his supporters, even a few AIADMK seniors were amazed by the response to Edappadi’s travel programme.

While it was heartening to see the support EPS could gather, one wonders how he would have fared without social media amplification. On Thursday, a section of AIADMK men started forwarding videos of Palaniswami’s tour to London, and after some editing, a peppy video was doing the rounds showing the CM clad in suit and tie, with old Rajinikanth numbers as background music. There were also posters and Whatsapp memes projecting EPS as ‘junior’ Puratchithalaivar, along party founder M G Ramachandran.

Back in the day, it was only the charisma of party founder MGR and Jayalalithaa that made people flank the road to catch the glimpse of their leaders.

— CS Kotteswaran, Chennai