Veteran Congress leader Kumari Ananthan to be honoured with Thagaisaal Tamilar award

CHENNAI: Senior Congress leader and eminent Gandhian Kumari Ananthan, 91, will receive the distinguished Thagaisaal Tamilar award this year.

Instituted by the state government in 2021 to honour distinguished Tamil personalities, the Thagaisaal Tamilar award for the current year will be presented to former TNCC president Kumari Ananthan by Chief Minister MK Stalin during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15, in Chennai.

As part of the award, Kumari Ananthan will receive a cheque for Rs 10 lakh and a citation in honour of his contributions to the Tamil society as a Gandhian, a parliamentarian, and literarian.

The veteran leader is the father of BJP's Tamilisai Soundararajan, former Governor of Puducherry and Telangana. He was a close associate of former CM K Kamaraj.

Kumari Ananthan was selected as the recipient of the award by a committee led by the CM which met at the state secretariat on Thursday morning.

Past recipients of the award include veteran left leaders N Sankaraiah, R Nallakannu, and Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani.