RAMANATHAPURAM: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam paid tribute to Muthuramalinga Thevar on his 111th birth anniversary and 56th guru pooja at Pasumpon on Tuesday.
Ministers O S Manian, R Kamaraj, C Vijayabaskar, Dindigul Srinivasan, RB Udayakumar, KT Rajendra Balaji and M Manikandan accompanied the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.
Speaking to media persons, Palaniswami said that it was AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran, who announced Thevar Jayanthi as a government function. “Thevar has been accorded State honours since 1976. MGR named Sivaganga district after Thevar, after carving it out of Ramanathapuram,” he added. He said that the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa offered a golden armour for the Thevar Statue on behalf of the AIADMK.
Apart from ministers, office bearers of the party in power accompanied Chief Minister. Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, along with BJP’s National Secretary H Raja, paid tribute to Thevar. Radhakrishnan said that Narendra Modi government was implementing the thoughts of Muthuramalinga Thevar in its governance. MDMK leader Vaiko emphasized the importance of communal harmony in southern districts.
Opposition leader visits memorial
DMK president and opposition leader MK Stalin, accompanied by former ministers I Periyasamy, Thangam Thennarasu, KKSSR Ramachandran and K R Periyakaruppan paid tributes to Thevar.