The AIADMK chief, Jayalalithaa, filing her nomination for the Andipatti assembly byelection at the Theni Collectorate on Thursday.

THENI

JAN.24.2002

Surrounded by minister, black cats and State police, the AIADMK supremo, Jayalalithaa, filed her nomination for the Andipatti Assembly byelection at the Theni Collectorate here today.

Earlier, she garlanded the Thevar statue at Usilampatti and the MGR statue at Andipatti. On reaching Theni, she waited for about 15 minutes in her vehicle, a few kilometres away from the Collectorate, in order to file the nomination at an auspicious time. Then she was driven to the main building at 11.10 a.m. The escort cars stopped outside the Collectorate.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said fulfilling the needs of the people in Andipatti would be her main agenda. ``I have come here to seek the people's support. My goal and objective is to fulfil their needs,'' she said after filing her papers. Asked how big her victory would be, she shot back: ``How can I comment on that?'' It would be decided by the voters. Accompanied by her aide, Sasikalaa, Ms. Jayalalithaa later boarded a scheduled flight to Chennai from Madurai.

The former Andipatti MLA, Thanga Tamizhchelvan, filed his papers as a dummy candidate.

Earlier, the Chief Minister, O. Paneerselvam, received Ms. Jayalalithaa at Andipatti. The ministers and MPs parked their vehicles outside the Collectorate complex and walked into the main hall. The accompanying ministers included N. Nainar Nagendran, Thalavai Sundaram, C. Ponnaiyan, C. Durairaj and M. Thambi Durai and the MPs comprised T. Srinivasan, T.T.V. Dinakaran and K. Malaichamy.

Only one chair was kept inside the returning officers' room. As soon as Ms. Jayalalithaa entered, the RO, K. Pulamadan, rose from his seat and received the nomination papers from Ms. Jayalalithaa.

A section of the media was kept outside the main building. The mediapersons had a harrowing time and most were handled roughly by security personnel.

The nomination proceedings were monitored by three Central observers through a closed-circuit TV system connecting the returning officers' room and the Collector's chamber.

Thirteen candidates filed their nominations today, taking the total number to 33.