74-year-old cadre’s lifetime meet with her nonagenarian leader

In what was a dream come true moment, the 74-year-old from Erode has achieved what many a cadre and even a few DMK leaders have been yearning for over a year now– having a tetea-tete with party president M Karunanidhi. 

The septuagenarian, who had returned home disappointed after not being able to meet working president M K Stalin during a review meet in Erode a week ago, shook Karunanidhi’s hands and wished him well in the company of Stalin at the former’s Gopalapuram residence late on Tuesday. 

In a video released by the DMK and posted on Stalin’s official Facebook page, Pappathi is seen wishing the party patriarch 100 years and planting a kiss on his hand. The short video also shows a red and black saree clad Pappathi being hosted by Stalin and his wife Durga in the latter’s Chittaranjan Avenue residence, where the DMK working president also captures a selfie with her. 

Holding Karunanidhi’s hands, Pappathi, in the same video, could be heard muttering in Gopalapuram, “enthangam (My beloved leader), You (Karunanidhi) will live to see Stalin become chief minister.” To top it all, she added, “I don’t remain in DMK for money,” a statement which had even impressed Stalin, so much so that he responded online by saying, “It is the dedication of such selfless cadre which strengthens DMK daily.”

Stalin has explained online that he made party functionaries bring Pappathi to Chennai after learning about her disappointment in Erode from media reports. He arranged a tea-party for her at his Cenotaph road residence, before taking her to meet Karunanidhi.