TIRUVARUR: Secular and democratic forces have to remain united and work together at the all-India level as in Tamil Nadu to safeguard democracy, DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin said. He was speaking after inaugurating ‘Kalaignar Kottam,’ a memorial for DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore at Kattur near Tiruvarur on Tuesday.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was scheduled to inaugurate the memorial, could not come due to sudden illness. “He called me over phone in the morning and conveyed this,” Stalin said. The chief minister and his sister Selvi inaugurated the memorial and unveiled a statue of Karunanidhi.
Speaking in the presence of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and JD (U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha, Stalin recalled Karunanidhi likening democracy to a lamp which fills a house with light and dictatorship to wildfire.
Calling upon DMK cadre gathered at the venue, Stalin said, “We have a duty to put out the wildfire being spread by the BJP for almost 10 years. By scheduling a meeting of secular and democratic parties in Patna on June 23, Bihar has taken the responsibility to safeguard democracy in the country and is laying foundation for it. I will be participating in the meeting with your trust and as a lieutenant of Karunanidhi who played a pivotal role in safeguarding democracy at the national level whenever it was threatened.”
Stalin stressed unity among secular and democratic forces, which would help the front achieve victory at the national level. “The first step in that direction is the Patna meeting. If the BJP comes back to power in the country again, it will be detrimental to Tamil language, Tamil race, Tamil Nadu and the entire country. If we do not safeguard democracy (by defeating BJP), Tamil Nadu, with its over 3,000 years of heritage, will not survive. If ideological heirs of Karunanidhi cannot achieve such a feat (of defeating BJP), no one can ever do it,” Stalin said.
He urged the party cadre to work towards winning all the 40 MP seats in TN and Puducherry in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Kalaignar Kottam, which has come up to 7,000 square feet, houses an exhibition on the life, struggles, literary achievements and other facets of Karunanidhi. It also has meeting halls and a library. Dr Mohan Kameswaran, managing trustee of Dayalu Ammal Trust which established the Kalaignar Kottam, Sambathkumar, trustee of the trust, and Poondi K Kalaivanan, Tiruvarur MLA, were present at the inauguration.