Chennai: Shifting of actor Shivaji Ganesan's statue from Kamarajar Salai sparked a debate in the Assembly on Friday.
In his maiden speech, DMK Velacherry MLA Vaagai Chandrasekar questioned the intention of shiting the statue. said why should the Sivaji statue on Kamarajar Salai should be shifted to another place? Why not allow it to be there in the existing place itself, he asked.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who intervened, said that it was not the government's desicion to shift, but an order from the Madras high court. the Government also did not want the statue to be shifted to some other place. It was an order from the Madras high court, which wanted the statue to be shifted elsewhere.
She added that the government has convinced the court to let the statue remain in its place till the work for a memorial for the thespian is complete. the statue is completed let the statue remain in the same place
The government convinced the court that it was in the process of building a memorial for the thespian. The work is on. Till the work is completed let the statue remain in the same place, where it is now. "This is how the government has convinced the Madras High Court, who has agreed to allow the statue to be there in the place," she said.
Chandrasekar said during the previous DMK regime the government took initiatives to honour television artists were honoured, but the present government has discontinued it.
To this, Jayalalithaa retorted saying that the state government has already planned a medal distribution function exclusively for the television artists.
Soon, an announcement will be made in this regard, she added.
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