Chief Minister Edappadi, O Panneerselvam heap praise on Karunanidhi

Senior members of the Assembly, including Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Thursday, recalled several unique traits of late DMK leader M Karunanidhi.

The Chief Minister said that Karunanidhi, won the hearts of MLAs with his unmatched sense of humour. 

Speaking on the condolence resolution for various leaders, including Dravidian patriarch Karunanidhi, Palaniswami said, “In 1989, when Congress MLA R Singaram demanded the government to increase the compensation amount for the death of MLAs from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh, Karunanidhi, who was the CM then, wished him long life. However, the demand was not accepted.”

On the second day of Assembly session, a resolution condoling the demise of various leaders, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Tamil Nadu Governor Beeshma Narayan Singh, agriculture enthusiast ‘Nel’ Jayaraman, ‘People’s doctor’ Jayachandran, Karunanidhi and Tirupparankundram MLA A K Bose, was brought by Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. 

Speaking on the condolence resolution, Palaniswami recalled the active participation of Karunanidhi in the anti-Hindi agitation of 1937 when Hindi was made compulsory in schools in Tamil Nadu. The Dravidian patriarch became the Chief Minister in 1969 and served in the same capacity for a record five times. 

During his tenure, Karunanidhi implemented several welfare schemes for the development of the state and many of them were welcomed by AIADMK, despite ideological differences. Apart from politics, Karunanidhi contributed immensely to Tamil literature and has authored several laudable works.

Karunanidhi through ‘Parasakthi’ movie conveyed to the world that he was a staunch rationalist. He was the only politician to have interacted with all the Prime Ministers that is from Jawarharlal Nehru to the present incumbent Narendra Modi. 

Panneerselvam, in his condolence address, said that Karunanidhi was a multifaceted personality. Party differences apart, Karuanidhi was always admired by everyone. Even in his late years, he practised Yoga and did exercise every day. The Dravidian patriarch made it a habit to read all the papers in the morning. 

Recalling the moments when Karunanidhi called him ‘Pachai Tamizhan’, the Deputy CM said, “When Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister in 2008, I moved a calling attention motion on Sri Lankan Tamils in the Assembly and the next day Karunanidhi, in a write-up in DMK mouthpiece Murasoli called me ‘Pachai Tamizhan’. The incident is still afresh in my memory”, said Panneerselvam. Speaker, P Dhanapal, also spoke on the condolence resolution and recalled his favourite moments with Karunanidhi in the House.

The Assembly on Thursday turned emotional with the legislators pouring out rich tributes to the Dravidian leader and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi.

The AIADMK, which initially denied burial space for former CM Karunanidhi next to his political mentor Anna at Marina beach, nullified the DMK’s anger by heaping praises on Karunanidhi as a tall Dravidian leader. The situation was such that DMK leader M K Stalin and Durai Murugan were moved by the resolution mooted by the Speaker P Dhanapal. Stalin personally thanked the Speaker and the treasury for the obituary resolution and rich tributes to his father, who died on August 7, last year. 

There were visible exchanges of pleasantries between the ruling camp led by CM Edappadi K Palaniswami and DMK leader M K Stalin. 

As the AIADMK leaders took turns to portray Karunanidhi and their AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa as tall Dravidian leaders, both the treasury and the opposition acknowledged the tributes by the members. 

DMK leader Durai Murugan fighting tears heaped praises in remembrance of his late leader Karunanidhi. Durai Murugan a trusted lieutenant of the former CM also pointed out the skill sets of Karunanidhi by donning various roles ranging from a script writer, editor, orator and great political administrator.

The Katpadi legislator also recalled the friendship between AIADMK founder MGR and his leader Karunanidhi despite their political differences. The DMK leader also noted the contributions of Karunanidhi in renaming Madras as Chennai and the infrastructure boost brought to TN in terms of industries and grade separators. 

“My leader as adorned every position available in the state assembly as MLA, minister, whip, leader of the opposition and a five-time chief minister. The DMK leader left his mark both in state and national politics and recalled the efforts of Kalaignar in getting the rights to hoist the national flag by CMs during Independence Day,” he added. 

“It should be noted that the DMK kept posters and banners praising Jayalalithaa after she passed away. The posters also praised Jayalalithaa as a brave woman. The posters read - You (Jayalalithaa) always wanted to be ahead of our leader (Karunanidhi), does it have to be even in death,” recalled a DMK member. “We have thanked the AIADMK for the condolence resolution on our leader Kalaignar but the DMK cadres will not forget that they initially denied space in Marina beach. The AIADMK had also created problems to erect the statue of our leader at Anna Arivalayam,” the MLA noted wishing not to be named.