A huge portrait of former Tamil Nadu chief-minister J. Jayalalithaa was unveiled yesterday in the State Legislative Assembly by Speaker Dhanapal even as the entire Opposition parties boycotted the ceremony to mark the unveiling of the portrait.

The huge portrait of the former chief-minister, depicting her clad in her typical, trademark green-coloured saree, is the 11th such portrait to be adorning the walls of the Assembly. It has come up on the wall exactly opposite to the Opposition benches (read: DMK) and stands majestically at 7 x 5 square feet. It carries a slogan ‘peace, development, prosperity’, things which the deceased chief-minister always fought for.

Soon after Dhanapal unveiled the portrait of Jayalalithaa, an amazing work of art by former Tamil Nadu College of Fine Arts principal Mathiyazhagan, a speech delivered by the former chief-minister was broadcast and was met with thunderous applause. Speaking on the occasion, deputy chief-minister O. Panneerselvam said that the demise of the former chief-minister made them feel like a boat on sea sans its oars.

“She roared like a lioness during her tenure as chief-minister as well as the Leader of the Opposition and was well-versed with the art of how to use the forum of Assembly. All her dreams would be fulfilled by us,” he assured. Chief-minister Edapadi K. Palaniswami said that Jayalalithaa’s fame would remain intact till the earth existed. “She made the whole world realize Tamil Nadu’s existence,” he added.

Even as MLAs of the ruling party, high-ranking Govt. officials and DGP Rajendran took part in the function, none of the opposition MLAs attended the event.  Congress MLA Vijayadharani, who had earlier strong comments in favour of unveiling the portrait of the former chief-minister in the Assembly, was conspicuous by her absence.