Jayalalithaa’s close-aid Navaneethakrishnan, an AIADMK MP and former advocate general, told Governance Now over phone from Bangalore: “We are moving the Karnataka high court vacation bench tomorrow (Monday) morning and file for bail. We hope to get date of hearing as Tuesday.”
 
Reports from the ground suggest that the sympathy wave is building up for Jayalalithaa in most places in Tamil Nadu. Jayalalithaa’s conviction in the disproportionate wealth case has made the common man react largely on emotions rather than on logic. Many people here think the verdict is too harsh, while others allege that the judgment was on purpose kept for Saturday so that Jayalalithaa could not approach the high court for bail immediately.

Of course, there cannot be a logical clue to an emotional phenomenon like sympathy wave. And if the sympathy factor works, the AIADMK will gain dramatically in the 2016 assembly elections. At the same time the party cadres are quite optimistic that their leader will get bail and she will bounce back. Fearing this sympathy factor, the opposition is now busy drafting its strategy for the assembly polls.

However, a lot will now depend on whether Jayalalithaa gets bail or not.