Prayers continue to pour in for Jayalalithaa's recovery

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Chennai's R.K. Nagar constituency to offer special prayers for the speedy recovery of ailing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, who is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital.

Supporters of Jayalalithaa - one of the powerful politicians of the country - gathered outside the hospital and offered prayers to their local deity.

"Only reason is our honorable chief minister should be back with a good health, that's the only prayer we all have. It's not only AIADMK workers, its people here. You can see," said a member of regional All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Saraswathi (AIADMK) party, P. Vetrivel.

On Tuesday, the portfolios of the ailing state chief minister were transferred to finance minister O. Panneerselvam.

Panneerselvam has served as interim chief minister of Tamil Nadu state twice in 2001 and 2014.

Earlier in the day, police in Coimbatore city arrested two persons for allegedly spreading rumours about the health of state chief on social networking sites.

Jayalalithaa wields national influence, with AIADMK holding the third largest number of seats in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament).

The portly, fair-skinned Jayalalithaa acted in several movies before joining politics and has a huge fan following. She endeared herself to millions by distributing free laptops, grinders and fans to voters.

People's devotion to Jayalalithaa, also called Amma (Mother), is unparalleled as they often prostrate themselves before her as a mark of respect.