All eyes turned skywards to have a glimpse of the chopper ferrying their beloved Puratchi Thalavi amid their midst. Yes, the thousands congregating in the agricultural fields at Varanavasi near Kanchiuram on Monday, was eager just for a glimpse of their beloved Amma – AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

The occasion: election campaign by Jayalalithaa. The cadres and leaders were all worked up to put up a show that would please Amma. And sure she looked pleased as she waved them a goodbye one and half hours later, for their presence and response.

For the cadres and Amma devotees, the 40 plus degrees heat, the wait for three hours and more, the crowds, the pushing and jolsting was nothing to mind at all, as they got what they came for – a glance of their Amma. The craze for Amma shows no signs of diminishing, if the reaction of the people thronging the campaign venue is any indication.

True for the devotees, every word of Amma was sheer music, but for critics her speech was repetitive, boring and lacking in substance.

But ever since Jayalalithaa touched down in her helicopter, precisely at 5.30 p.m, and to her departure at around 7.30 p.m. by road to Chennai, the Amma fans had their fill. Without wasting any time, Jayalalithaa launched into her speech mode.

Jayalalithaa began by listing out her achievements of past five years in government and highlighted the Brand Amma she built around which all the welfare schemes in Tamil Nadu are crafted. “I have done what I said I would do and also did many other things that I did not promise,” Jayalalithaa said to wild cheering by the audience, many of whom came for just that – a glimpse of Amma.

After recalling all her welfare schemes, she counted the Brand Amma products sold at much cheaper prices than in the open market for the benefit of the people. Many in the crowd swear that the Amma canteens are a savior and so are a plethora of Amma things – from cement to medicines to vegetables to salt to drinking water.

Jayalalithaa only targets Karunanidhi and his party DMK and completely ignores the rest of the political formations, giving an impression that she does not even count them. In Tamil Nadu, the battle is between AIADMK and DMK only.

At every campaign rally, Jayalalithaa hits out against DMK and she takes Karunanidhi to task over all issues. First she put every political party on the backfoot by proclaiming to bring prohibition in phases, taking a lead over the rest and forcing them to react. Whether it was prohibition or her charge against DMK chief Karunanidhi that he ceded Katchatheevu, Jayalalithaa has forced the others to react. In a way she is setting the agenda and that too of her choice.

Jagannathan, an AIADMK councilor from sholanginallur, who was having his lunch at Kanchipuram dismissed Karunanidhi’s criticism and said AIADMK will win 170 seats this time as “Amma has delivered on every front.”

At her Varanavasi rally today, she introduced 10 candidates of her party from Kanchipuram, T hiruvallur and Thiruvannamalai district.

She reminded the people that they had thrown out the family rule (Karunanidhi) and brought her to power in 2011. Ever since, she said, she has been tirelessly working for the masses and implemented all the schemes she promised in the last elections. Whether it was Mullaiperiar issue or Cauvery waters, Tamil Nadu government has achieved significantly over the past few years. Also, Tamil Nadu has now become a state that has no power cuts, she declared.

Taking on the DMK frontally, she said there was nothing in DMK manifesto about the prohibition. If DMK comes, it would sell liquor through private companies as its manifesto only said the government would not sell liquor, Jayalalithaa said.

The speech over, Jayalalithaa waved to the crowds urging them to vote for the continuation of the good work she has done.