CHENNAI: Former minister Thangam Thennarasu on Tuesday strongly denied Congress MLA Tharahai Cuthbert’s allegation that the DMK government had refused to allot space on the Marina for a memorial to former CM K Kamaraj in 1975.
Responding to the allegation made by Cutbert during the Assembly session on Monday, Thennarasu said no such request had been made by the Congress at the time. Recalling the events following Kamaraj’s death on October 2, 1975, he referred to Congress leader Rajaram Naidu’s account and said the then chief minister M Karunanidhi and the DMK government had accorded state honours to the late leader.
Thennarasu rejected Cuthbert’s claim that the DMK government had denied space on the Marina, maintaining that no request had been made for the same. Cuthbert, however, said she was aware that Karunanidhi had honoured Kamaraj in every possible manner, but maintained that the allegation regarding the denial of space on the Marina was true. Speaker JCD Prabhakar declined to allow any further discussion on the issue.