CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and other elected representatives on Wednesday paid floral tributes to Dravidian icon and social reformer Periyar E V Ramasamy on his 52nd death anniversary. Stalin, along with his cabinet colleagues, offered tributes to Periyar’s portrait placed beneath his statue on Anna Salai.
In a post on X, the CM said that hostile forces, unable to “steal or internalise the great sun that is Periyar”, were struggling with “deceitful intentions”. “If Tamil Nadu stands united in solidarity under the banner of Oranaiyil Tamil Nadu, victory will always be ours,” he stated.
Tributes were also paid by cadres of the Congress, MDMK, DMDK, AMMK and other parties across the state. TVK president Vijay paid homage to Periyar’s portrait at his party headquarters.
Meanwhile, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, along with senior leaders, functionaries and cadres, paid homage to party founder and former chief minister M G Ramachandran (MGR) on his 38th death anniversary. Wearing black shirts, Palaniswami and party colleagues offered floral tributes at MGR’s memorial on the Marina. He later administered 10 pledges, vowing to bring back the AIADMK to power in the state, to party cadre. One of the pledges said conspiracies by “betrayers and political adversaries” would not succeed, while another said that CM Stalin has no answers to questions regarding his unfulfilled electoral promises. Former CM O Panneerselvam, VK Sasikala, former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, and BJP leaders, including Union Minister L Murugan, also paid tributes to MGR.