“Iconic Leader Who…”: Vice President On Late M Karunanidhi At Statue Unveiling

The 16-foot high bronze statue is atop a 14-foot pedestal.Chennai: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today unveiled a life-size statue of late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi installed by the Tamil Nadu Government at Chennai’s Omandurar Government Estate along Anna Salai. This comes ahead of Mr Karunanidhi’s 98th birth anniversary on June 3.The Vice President called the iconic former Chief Minister the “best orator” who worked for the downtrodden and for social justice. “Karunanidhi was an able Chief Minister who left a lasting legacy of development. He comes in the list of iconic leaders who put people at the centre,” he added. Mr Naidu also tacitly emphasised the importance of a federal structure and the non-imposition of any language.”Only if states develop, the country will develop…The country can’t prosper without the development of states,” he said.Amid Tamil Nadu reiterating its position on opposing any form of Hindi imposition, he added, “no imposition of any language, no opposition to any language…Learn as many languages as possible”. Chief Minister MK Stalin, Mr Karunanidhi’s son, said it was a mark of gratitude for his father. “I am happy his statue is between the statues of Periyar and CN. Annadurai on the same road. This statue stands majestically at the complex he established for the assembly, though it’s now a hospital,” he said.The key opposition AIADMK was conspicuous by its absence. The Vice President observed, “There should be respect for leaders. All should work together agreeing to disagree”.The 16-foot high bronze statue on a 14-foot pedestal has come in the same secretariat cum Tamil Nadu assembly complex that the five-time Chief Minister passionately built during his last tenure. His political arch-rival J Jayalalithaa, who became Chief Minister of the state later, had converted it into a super multi-speciality hospital and medical college.Live: முத்தமிழறிஞர் கலைஞர் அவர்களின் சிலை திறப்பு விழா https://t.co/NIdic7NiFG— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) May 28, 2022The statue has five messages of Mr Karunanidhi engraved, including opposition to Hindi imposition and the creation of an oppression free society.Interestingly, on the same road which was earlier called Mount Road, a statue for Mr Karunanidhi was installed in 1975 when he was alive. It was his mentor — rationalist leader and social reformer Periyar — who gave him that idea.However, it was vandalised and removed in the year 1987 during the violence that erupted after the passing of his friend and political rival Chief Minister MG Ramachandran.At the site of the statue were present Mr Karunanidhi’s second wife Rajathi Ammal, his MP daughter MK Kanimozhi, and other close family members. 



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