DMK to officially celebrate MGR’s birth anniversary today

The ruling DMK on Sunday announced that it would officially celebrate the birth anniversary of MG Ramachandran aka MGR, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and founder of its breakaway faction AIADMK in a grand manner.

Chief Minister MK Stalin, who had no qualms bragging about his association with MGR in the run up to the April 6 Assembly elections, would be deputing his Ministers and MPs to honour the late matinee idol who had kept DMK out of power for around a decade in the distant past.

An official announcement said that Ministers and MPs of the party would garland the statue of MGR at Dr MGR Medical University campus at 10am on Monday.

The state government, in fact, did not confine itself to announcing the celebration. The official communication presented an abridged account of MGR’s life, including his formative years as drama artists and his contribution as chief minister later.

“Though he (MGR) started as a Gandhian, he had joined the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1953 after being wooed by the thoughts and principles of Thanthai Periyar and Anna,” the statement said. Recalling his brief stint as the treasurer of the DMK in the late 1960s, the government release ‘lauded’ the tenure of MGR by referring to the various pioneering welfare schemes implemented by him for the poor and downtrodden people during his tenure as chief minister, including the UN appreciated nutritious meal scheme, creation of Thanjavur Tamil University and free uniforms plus footwear for school students.

Sparing a thought to celebrate the ‘friendship’ between MGR and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, the government led by Stalin said that albeit political differences, MGR had cherished his friendship with Karunanidhi till the end of his life. The government also recapped how Karunanidhi had honoured MGR by releasing a special postage stamp in 1990 in his memory.