TN Chief Minister Panneerselvam, Sasikala lead tributes to MGR; release commemorative stamp

The Chief Minister and the AIADMK general secretary, V K Sasikala, participated in a series of programmes to mark the occasion.
Chief Minister O Panneerselvam hands over a special stamp to mark the birth centenary of AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran, to party general secretary Sasikala. (EPS | P Jawahar)
Chief Minister O Panneerselvam hands over a special stamp to mark the birth centenary of AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran, to party general secretary Sasikala. (EPS | P Jawahar)

CHENNAI: The birth centenary of former Chief Minister and AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran was celebrated across the State with Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala participating in a series of programmes to mark the occasion.

The chief minister received the first set of commemorative stamps released by the postal department in a function at the MGR Medical University. He and his cabinet colleagues paid floral tributes to the late leader's statue at the varsity.

Flanked by party cadre, BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan garlanded the statue of MGR on the arterial Anna Salai. Deepa Jayakumar, niece of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, paid floral tributes at the memorials of MGR and Jayalalithaa on the Marina.

TNCC president S Thirunavukkarasar paid floral tributes to MGR at Sathyamoorthi Bhavan while DMDK founder Vijayakant garlanded the portrait of MGR at his party headquarters. 

MDMK general secretary Vaiko went to Ramavaram gardens and garlanded MGR statue there after it was unveiled.

At the AIADMK headquarters, Sasikala hoisted the party flag and garlanded the statue of MGR. The chief minister handed over the first set of commemorative stamps on MGR to Sasikala. She also released two volumes of special souvenir and a book titled Vallal Thilagam MGR to mark the occasion. One of long time members of the party P Natarajan, who is reeling under poverty, received an assistance of Rs 50,000 from her. Also, Sridevi, a college student from Tiruchy received Rs 20,000 as assistance towards her studies.

Later, members of 104 families from poor economic background received Rs 1.04 crore as assistance from her.

After this, Sasikala visited the residence of MGR at Ramavaram Gardens and hoisted the party flag and unveiled the new statue of the late leader. She also donated Rs 10 lakh to the MGR Home and Higher Secondary School for the Speech and Hearing Impaired functioning in the premises. She also presented hearing aids worth Rs 19 lakh to 165 students of the school and dined with the students.

In the evening, Sasikala inaugurated the year-long celebrations organised by the Tamil film industry. To start with, MGR-Jayalalithaa starrer *Ayirathil Oruvan* was screened at Abirami theatre.

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