CHENNAI: On the first death anniversary of DMK party supremo and patriarch ‘Kalainger’ Karunanidhi, party leader M K Stalin and Member of Parliament Kanimozhi paid homage to their father at his memorial in Marina Beach and planted a tree near his tomb here on Wednesday morning.
The family members along with party youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MPs and MLAs participated in a 2-kilometre silent rally from Anna Statue in Anna Salai to the Karunanidhi memorial on the Marina Beach Road.
Party MPs Tamilachi Thangapandian, T R Baalu, ‘Tiruchi’ Siva, and party treasurer Durai Murugan were among the prominent leaders who participated in the rally.
More than one lakh cadre thronged the roads leading to the memorial from all junctions which led to the traffic coming to a complete standstill for nearly an hour. Many school buses, MTC buses, and private transport got caught in the snarl which caused inconvenience for commuters especially school children and office-goers.
Traffic was blocked in the Madras University junction, Wallajah Road junction in Anna Salai, Pycrofft’s road entrance and all other streets leading out of Wallajah Road. However, there was no traffic diversions planned, so all the vehicles had to wait
Many parents in two-wheelers carrying their children seemed helpless and had no other go other than waiting. ‘‘At least 10 schools are in this locality and children will be made to stand out of the school during prayer if they are late’’ said one of the parents.
Police high handedness
As the crowd grew in large numbers near the memorial when the DMK leaders arrived, the police and CRPF had to use muscle power to stop people from entering the tomb. Even press persons and camera men were pushed down to make special way for DMK MPs and MLAs to enter, while CRPF personnel and police hit few people physically and punched them to make them move out of the way.
After Karunanidhi died last, M K Stalin took over as the leader and has pushed the party to commendable victories. Apart from keeping the partymen together when his brother Alagiri rallied against him last year, Stalin has strengthened the social media base and IT wing, which was BJP’s weapon in the 2014 elections.
Stalin was also one of the very few leaders who had vocally criticized the central government for revoking Article 370 in Kashmir.
In the parliamentary elections, DMK marched on the anti-BJP sentiments and swept to power winning 38 seats in coalition while results are awaited for the Vellore polls, which took place a few days back after it was called off in May due to alleged money distribution by DMK candidate.