Give Bharat Ratna to Amma, Annadurai, Periyar: AIADMK

CHENNAI: At AIADMK's General Council meeting held at Vanagaram, a total of 16 resolutions were passed. This includes the revival of the powerful general secretary post, which was once held by former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, and the post was abolished after her death in 2016.

Now, it has been decided that the elections will be held in four months’ time.

Also, at the GC meeting, the party adopted the second resolution urging the Centre to confer Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country, on the late leaders – Periyar E V Ramasamy, C N Annadurai and J Jayalalithaa.

It is to be noted that the party, back in 2018, renewed the demand for conferring Bharat Ratna on its late supremo Jayalalithaa even as it sought the country's highest civilian honour for late Dravidian stalwarts E V Ramasamy 'Periyar' and C N Annadurai, after DMK Rajya Sabha member Tiruchi Siva asked the Centre to posthumously confer Bharat Ratna to party chief M Karunanidhi as a tribute to his outstanding and exemplary work for the people.

While the party had first made the demand for honouring Jayalalithaa with Bharat Ratna months after her demise in December 2016, the move to seek the honour for Periyar and Annadurai, a former chief minister, comes decades after their death.