Chennai:
AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday turned 62 but the occasion was subdued as she targeted arch rival DMK, asking party cadres to refrain from usual grand celebrations to protest the "misrule" by Karunanidhi Government.
The former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had no programmes scheduled on the occasion and decided to spend the day quietly in the privacy of her home, party sources said.
However, party workers, including MLAs, visited temples and performed special poojas for Jayalalithaa, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
Fondly called as 'Amma' (mother) by her party workers, Jayalalithaa had last week urged her party men not to indulge in any festivities citing "misrule" of DMK that has put the state "on the path of destruction".
"At a time when the state is on the path of destruction in many departments, I urge party men not to engage in any grandeur or festivities to celebrate my birthday. They should rather involve themselves in useful things like providing medical services or feeding the poor," she had said.
With a year to go for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, "the glorious days of AIADMK rule will come soon and let us reserve the celebrations for then," said Jayalalithaa, whose party has suffered a spate of electoral reverses since the assembly elections in 2006.
AIADMK cadres usually organise grand celebrations, arrange mass marriages and feeding of poor on the occasion of her birthday, whom they extol as "Puratchi Thalaivi"