Ahead of the event, the Fort St George, which houses the secretariat-Assembly complex, was beautifully decorated and was illuminated by shining lights. The entire premises has been brought under heightened security, to avoid any protest by the opposition.



Speaker P Dhanapal is set to unveil the portrait in the presence of chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and deputy CM O Panneerselvam. The DMK and the Congress have announced that their legislators would boycott the function.

While the opposition said that Jayalalithaa's portrait should not be kept at the Assembly since she was convicted by the court in disproportionate assets case, the ruling party justified the move by saying that she was a tall leader.

Cooperation minister Sellur K Raju listed out measures by Jayalalithaa like the cradle baby scheme to protect girl children and starting the first all women police stations in India.

"Jayalalithaa had implemented welfare measures for people that were dreamt of by leaders like Periyar and Anna," he said.