J Jayalalithaa will finally step out of her Poes Garden residence in Chennai at exactly 1.28 this afternoon and will drive to the Raj Bhawan, about 10 kilometres away, where she will meet Governor K Rosaiah, who has invited her to be chief minister of Tamil Nadu again.

The 67-year-old is expected to be sworn in with her council of ministers at about 11 am tomorrow, eight months after she had to resign when a Bangalore court convicted her in a corruption case.

This will be Jayalalithaa’s first appearance in public after her acquittal by the Karnataka High Court earlier this month. From the Raj Bhawan, she will head out to garland the statues of AIADMK leaders, starting with founder MG Ramachandran’s statue at Anna Salai.

People have already started queuing up at the statue to catch a glimpse of Jayalalithaa or ‘Amma’, as she is called.

In swift activity early on Friday morning, O Panneerselvam resigned as chief minister, soon after 144 of the AIADMK’s 150 lawmakers met at the party headquarters in Chennai to unanimously elect Jayalalithaa as the leader of the legislature party. Jayalalithaa was not at the meeting.

Meanwhile, J Jayalalithaa’s supporters are gathering by the thousands in Chennai as frenetic celebrations begin in anticipation of her return as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister tomorrow.

“Our mother is back,” said an fan, who is waiting for a glimpse of Ms Jayalalithaa or Amma (mother) as she is known to millions of supporters.

At the AIADMK party office, drums are being beaten since the party’s legislators completed the formality of electing Jayalalithaa as their legislature party leader early this morning. People are also lining up at other places in the city that the leader will visit today in her first appearance in public since the Karnataka High Court acquitted her in a corruption case earlier this month.